The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 55

Animal Housing

demand for esas has created an industry of
online companies that will provide certification for a fee (hoffman, 2015a; marx, 2014;
Von Bergen, 2015; youngren, Boisvert, &
Boness, 2016). one such company, the national service animal registry (nsar), offers a
lifetime registration for an animal for $64.95,
not including shipping and handling, with just
"three quick steps" (Von Bergen, 2015, p. 25).
the growth in the industry has been swift, with
nsar certifying 2,400 animals in 2011, and
11,000 animals in 2013 (marx, 2014). nsar
is just one of many such companies on the
internet, some of which are willing to send
clients prescriptions for esas in the mail after
a brief conversation over the phone or internet
(hoffman, 2015, october 4; marx, 2014; Von
Bergen, 2015; youngren et al., 2016). as Von
Bergen (2015) wrote, "perceptive administrators realize that many such sites would certify
a bicycle as an esa for a fee" (p. 25). many
universities have started circulating lists with
the names of such websites, though whether
that will solve the problem remains to be seen
(hoffman, 2015a).
there is a reason that the quick and easy
online companies are thriving, however
(youngren et al., 2016). administrators might
assume that students who already are seeing
a psychiatrist easily would be able to acquire a
prescription if they truly qualified, but doing so
may be violating american psychological association (apa) guidelines. the treatment that
the student presumably would receive would
place the psychiatrist in a therapeutic role,
while the decision as to whether the student
qualifies for a government benefit requires that
the psychiatrist hold a forensic role. holding
these two roles at the same time creates a con-

. . . universities legally may be
obligated to allow ESAs into their
handler's residence halls, but
they are not legally obligated to
allow ESAs to enter every part of
campus. Areas where ESAs can be
denied entry include dining halls,
academic buildings, administrative
buildings, and the campus itself.
In contrast, service animals, as
defined by the ADA, are allowed to
accompany their handlers virtually
everywhere on campus .

flict of interest that violates the apa's ethics
Code. this means that students are generally required to seek a prescription elsewhere,
and it takes time for a forensic psychiatrist to
properly ascertain whether an individual qualifies as legally disabled and eligible for an esa
(youngren, et al. 2016). additionally, there is
not sufficient evidence to suggest that esas
are useful in alleviating symptoms of psychiatric disorders simply through their presence
(gilbey & tani, 2015; herzog, 2011; youngren, et al., 2016). studies have indicated that
animal-assisted therapy can be effective, but
that it involves an intentional use of animals
with a psychiatrist (gilbey & tani, 2015). this
makes receiving a prescription from a qualified forensic psychiatrist even more difficult,

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3

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