Emotional Support Animals: Are we asking too much of them?

The rise of emotional support animals in the private rented sector is a topic I have been observing with increasing interest over the past few years, and, I will be honest, with increasing concern. Not because I doubt the genuine therapeutic value that animals can offer people who are struggling, but because a question that rarely gets asked in this debate has been sitting in the back of my mind for some time.

What about the animal?

The case for emotional support animals

Let me start with what the evidence does support, because it is important to be fair and balanced on this.

There is a meaningful body of research suggesting that interacting with animals can deliver genuine mental health benefits. Studies have found that stroking and spending time with animals releases oxytocin and reduces cortisol, which can positively impact stress levels. The American Psychiatric Association, in a 2024 survey of 2,200 adults, found that 62% of pet owners said their animals helped reduce stress and anxiety, 35% said they encouraged physical activity, and 29% said they added structure to their daily schedule.

The first peer reviewed, published scientific evidence that emotional support animals specifically may benefit people's mental health came from a pilot study at the University of Toledo, where participants with serious mental illness who were paired with shelter animals showed measurable improvements in wellbeing over a twelve month period. The researchers were careful to note, however, that this was a small pilot study and that more rigorous research was needed.

The broader literature on human-animal interaction is more established. Reviews have highlighted reductions in depression and anxiety associated with animal companionship, and both animal-assisted therapy and companionship via living with animals have been associated with decreased depression and loneliness, improved cardiovascular health and increased physical activity.

So the benefits, when the conditions are right, are real. The question is whether the conditions are always right.

What the science says about the animal

Here is where the research becomes genuinely thought provoking, and where I think the public conversation around emotional support animals is missing something important.

Animals, particularly dogs and cats, are not passive recipients of human emotion. They are highly intuitive creatures with their own emotional lives and their own stress responses. And the evidence suggests that when their owner is struggling, they feel it.

A landmark study published in the journal Scientific Reports by researchers at Sweden's Linköping University examined the cortisol levels of 58 dogs and their owners over several months. The researchers found long-term synchronisation in stress levels between dogs and their owners, with owners who had high cortisol levels having dogs with correspondingly high cortisol levels, and owners with low cortisol levels having dogs with low levels. This was the first study to identify long-term stress synchronisation between members of two different species.

More recently, a study published in October 2024 found that the heart rate variability of a dog and its owner can mirror each other in real time. By observing 25 dogs and their owners wearing ECG electrodes, researchers found that when the owner was relaxed or stressed, so too was their dog.

In plain terms, dogs absorb our emotional state. Their stress mirrors ours. Research published by animal behavioural scientists confirms that dogs and cats can detect tiny shifts in body language, breathing rate and tone of voice, even when we think we are holding it together. They may also pick up on hormonal and scent changes that occur when we are anxious. Over time, an owner's personal stress pattern can become a kind of emotional background noise in the home, with chronic owner anxiety translating into chronic animal anxiety.

This is not a fringe observation. It is supported by peer reviewed research published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal. And it raises a question that I do not think is asked nearly enough in the context of emotional support animals.

If an animal's stress levels synchronise with those of their owner, and the owner has been prescribed the animal specifically because they are experiencing significant emotional or psychological distress, what is the lived experience of that animal?

What the wider picture suggests

Beyond the cortisol synchronisation research, there is a broader question about the suitability of environments in which emotional support animals are kept, and whether the wellbeing of the animal receives adequate consideration in the process of acquiring one.

Unlike trained assistance dogs, which go through rigorous welfare assessment, careful matching to their handler and ongoing monitoring of the relationship, emotional support animals require no formal training, no welfare assessment and no structured review of whether the arrangement is working for both parties. Any animal can be designated as an emotional support animal on the basis of a letter from a health professional. There is no assessment of the animal's temperament, the suitability of the living environment or the owner's capacity to meet the animal's physical and psychological needs.

The RSPCA has noted that animals have complex emotional and physical needs that must be met regardless of the role they are asked to play in a human's life. A dog kept in a small flat with insufficient exercise, stimulation and social interaction is not a dog whose welfare is being adequately considered, regardless of the therapeutic purpose it is intended to serve. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 places a legal duty of care on all animal owners to meet their animal's five welfare needs, including the need to express normal behaviour and the need to be housed in an appropriate environment. That duty applies equally to emotional support animals.

The animal did not choose this role. It cannot advocate for itself. And the current framework for emotional support animals in the UK contains no mechanism for ensuring that its welfare is being consistently and adequately met.

The legal position in the UK

It is worth clarifying the legal position for landlords, because there is considerable confusion on this point.

Emotional support animals do not have automatic legal protection in the UK. Requests can be assessed on a case-by-case basis and may be refused under a no pets policy. This is distinct from assistance animals, which are legally protected under the Equality Act 2010 and must be permitted as a reasonable adjustment for disabled tenants.

Under the Renters' Rights Act, landlords must consider pet requests fairly and on their individual merits, respond in writing within 28 days and provide clear and reasonable grounds for any refusal. Reasonable grounds for refusal can include the property being unsuitable for the type or size of pet, restrictions in a superior lease, or potential risks to the property, neighbours or the pet's welfare.

That last point is one that deserves more attention. The pet's welfare is explicitly a legitimate ground for consideration under the current framework. In a case where an emotional support animal would be kept in an environment that cannot adequately meet its physical or emotional needs, that is a reasonable and well founded concern that landlords are entitled to raise.

A question worth asking

I am not arguing against emotional support animals. I am arguing for a more honest and complete conversation about them, one that includes the welfare of the animal alongside the needs of the owner.

The science is clear that animals absorb our emotional state. When an animal is living alongside someone experiencing significant and unresolved psychological distress, in an environment that cannot adequately meet its physical and behavioural needs, the question of whether that arrangement is truly therapeutic for either party is one worth asking openly.

The most intuitive and perceptive animals are not always the best equipped to carry the weight of someone else's mental health. They deserve to be considered in this conversation too.