Emotional Support Animals

Emotional support animals are allowed in University Housing as a reasonable and appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities.  Emotional support animals are allowed outdoors on campus, so long as they are following the guidelines in the policy, but they are generally prohibited from classroom and administrative buildings on campus. Refer to the Process for Requesting an Emotional Support Animal at USD for more information.

Not all animals that individuals with a disability rely on meet the definition of a service animal for purposes of ADA.  According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an emotional support animal is any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. Emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs.

Please allow at least 2 weeks for processing ESA applications through the Office of Accessibility.

Emotional Support Animals are available to students with a qualifying disability who are registered with the Office of Accessibility and have a campus Housing Accommodation.

There is no cost associated with having ESA in on-campus housing. There is a cost for licensing a dog with the City of Vermillion, which USD Housing requires.

Refer to the Process for Requesting an Emotional Support Animal at USD. Emotional Support Animal requests are reviewed and approved jointly between the Office of Accessibility and USD Housing.  Applications are due 4-5 weeks before the start of the semester at the latest.