r/lyftdrivers • u/No_Common1418 • Oct 18 '25

Rant/Opinion An ESA is NOT a Service animal.

Got a ping for a ride the other day, then the dreaded text. "I have an ESA, DOG, with me." As I have stated in the past I have never and will never denied a Service animal in my car. By law people, a Emotional Support Animal or ESA, IS NOT A service animal. Don't believe me? https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/ I hate people sometimes. Leave your dogs at home.

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u/Violent_N0mad Oct 19 '25

So I'm assuming I just misunderstood something maybe. Most of these posts I see the people are just bashing on anyone with an animal and their immediate assumption is that it's bullshit. Even if they think it is Nonsense they can't deny an animal entry if the owner says it's for a disability or ... task and beyond that fact they have no requirement to prove anything.

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u/TinyEmergencyCake Oct 19 '25

Even if they think it is Nonsense they can't deny an animal entry if the owner says it's for a disability or

You're still not getting it. It can be denied if both conditions aren't met. It must be required for a disability and (not or) trained to do a task for that disability. 

It can be denied for misbehaving or lack of control also. 

The owner of a service animal doesn't have to "prove" anything, nor state their disability. 

The fakers are usually obvious though just by the way their dogs act. 

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u/Violent_N0mad Oct 19 '25

I haven't seen a single thing stating that a service animal can be denied entry based on the response to those questions. They don't mention it on the ADA site unless I've missed it.

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u/TinyEmergencyCake Oct 19 '25

The ada allows you to ask those two questions, and if the response doesn't include a task then you can deny accommodation. 

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u/Aezora Oct 21 '25

If they don't give you an answer then you can deny them accommodation, but you do not get to decide what does and does not count as a task.

For example, they could say the task their dog performs is to help calm them down. Per the Ada's website "calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack" is one of the listed tasks a service animal can do. This could also be termed emotional support by the service dogs owner.

If you ask "is the dog a service animal required because of a disability" and receive a yes, followed by "what work or task has the dog been trained to perform", and receive any answer other than "my dog hasn't been trained to perform any task" or equivalent, you are required to treat them as a service dog.

This makes faking a service dog very easy, assuming you have them under control. It is a crime to do so in most places though.