An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is something talked about frequently in college. Many students around you may have an ESA. While these animals are not service dogs, they are extremely helpful to students who struggle with hidden mental difficulties that many of us never see. Even though these animals can be extremely helpful to students, it's important to know what difficulties having an ESA on campus presents.
1. Animals Require A Lot of Time
While spending time with your emotional support animal is time well spent, you need to consider the amount of time each animal needs. If you have a dog as an ESA you will need to dedicate time to playing and walking the dog. You won't always be able to spend your free time doing things with your friends, you have to put your animal's needs first. This fact may seem obvious at first, but really take into account how you spend your time before you look into getting an ESA with high needs.
2. Animals Are Expensive
Again this may seem obvious. However, until you are paying for each bill it is important to take into account whether or not you have the financial capability to support an animal. Their costs range from food and required medications to treats and toys for your animal. This article gives a detailed breakdown of the cost of owning an animal. It can help you to see the true cost of having an ESA.
3. Animals Are Often a Lifetime Commitment
When you take the time to train an animal and to gain its trust, it's not right to send them to the shelter because you don't want to take care of it anymore. Make sure you understand that an animal can live ten plus years, and you will need to provide for it that whole time.
Having an emotional support animal can change your life. They provide unconditional love which can help humans get through the hardest of times. Despite this, your job as a pet owner is to love and care for your animal in return, so make sure you are prepared for the task.
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