30 Craziest Emotional Support Animals People Really Have

There's no denying the plethora of benefits having an animal companion can provide. Research has linked owning a pet to reduced rates of heart disease, improved weight loss outcomes, and lower blood pressure. In fact, having a pet may just be the key to better mental health, too—researchers at the University of British Columbia have even linked time spent with animals to significant reductions in stress and a spike in overall wellbeing.

So, considering the uptick in anxiety in the United States in recent years (as per the American Psychiatric Association's annual report, where year after year, the percentage slowly increases bit by bit), it's no wonder that more people are turning to emotional support animals than ever before. However, it's not just your typical service dog providing their owner support these days.

"There is a big uprising in people trying to pass their personal pets off as emotional support animals (ESAs)—and hence regulations and registrations are becoming stricter. In fact, many airlines now only allow ESAs to be dogs, as people were increasingly trying to pass off everything from peacocks to turtles as certified ESAs for a free lift," says Nicole Ellis, a certified dog trainer and pet expert with Rover.com. "In order to have an ESA, a licensed therapist needs to write a letter of recommendation, saying a person should have one, based on their assessments." With that in mind, we've rounded up the 30 craziest emotional service animals people actually have, from marsupials to monkeys.

If you think that kangaroos are best left roaming the Australian continent or safely behind fences at zoos, you're not alone. In fact, in February 2015, a Wisconsin woman was asked to leave a McDonald's in Beaver Dam when she entered the restaurant with Jimmy, her emotional support kangaroo.

When many picture an emotional support animal, they picture something soft, fuzzy, and huggable. Of course, that's far from the whole picture—just ask Megan Curran, a teenager recently profiled in the Waco Tribune for her unique emotional support animal: a bearded dragon, upon whom she depends for anxiety relief.

While many laypeople and scientists alike would argue that pigs are as close a cognitive match to humans as any animal, the case for them being emotionally supportive is relatively new. However, plenty of people are turning to these curly-tailed companions to meet their emotional needs—in 2014, a woman was booted from a US Airways flight when her 80-pound emotional support pig became disruptive. That said, smaller, better-behaved pigs are still a good source of comfort, according to the American Mini-Pig Association.

Though many people would call turkeys' vocalizations less than calming, others claim these big birds are the perfect companion for those who could use some emotional support. That was the case in 2016, when passengers on a Delta flight discovered that someone in the plane's Comfort+ section had brought an emotional support turkey on board as their therapeutic companion.

It may seem as though smaller emotional support animals would be easier to manage during travel, but that's far from universally true. Case in point: A 2016 Frontier Airlines flight was greeted by police at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport after a passenger's emotional support marmoset got loose during the trip from Columbus, Ohio.

Snakes on a plane? Not even if they're acting in an emotional support capacity, according to some airlines. After passengers brought emotional support snakes aboard multiple flights, Delta had to issue a prohibition on the amphibian friends boarding planes via press release in early 2018.

Though few would call peacocks "cuddly" or "affectionate," they apparently provide ample emotional support to those who need it. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean they're welcome everywhere: In January 2018, United Airlines informed a woman attempting to board a plane with her emotional support peacock that her feathered friend was not a welcome guest.

Of course, just because the prospect of encountering an emotional support peacock in the aisles of a cramped plane may not appeal to some, that doesn't mean all birds are banned. After his appearance on a flight from Charlotte to Asheville, North Carolina, a woman's emotional support duck, Daniel Turducken Stinkerbutt, went viral, thanks in large part to his adorable outfit: a Captain America diaper and tiny red shoes.

While you may turn to chicken as leaner alternative to red meat, others turn to the feathered fowl for emotional support. In June 2018, the Chicago Tribune profiled a disabled Marine whose emotional support chickens—20 of them in total—had him butting heads with his neighbors.

While miniature horses have long been used as an alternative to seeing eye dogs, they're also pretty well-respected in the emotional support world, as well. While JetBlue recently had to ban animals—including snakes, rodents, spiders, reptiles, ferrets, and non-household birds—from their flights, miniature horses were specifically given the green light to keep flying the friendly skies.

For many people, squirrels are little more than a nuisance at your local park. For others, they're the bringers of better emotional wellbeing. In 2017, WFLA profiled a Florida man who was doggedly fighting to keep his emotional support squirrel, whom he'd rescued after Hurricane Matthew, after his building threatened to evict him for having it.

Goats are great at keeping your grass tidy, but some claim they're also perfect for providing emotional support. In fact, emotional support goats are so common that both American and Alaska Airlines have banned them from coming aboard their planes.

Want an emotional support pet that's a little more interactive? Look no further than your nearest parrot. These talkative birds are becoming more common as support animals, with charities like Parrots for Patriots providing them as emotional support companions to former members of the armed services.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

That's right: tiny possums that glide on air can be emotional support animals, too. In fact, in 2018, the Rocky Mountain Collegian profiled a Colorado State University student studying clinical/counseling psychology student who spent her days on campus accompanied by her emotional support sugar glider.

While you can't hold them and you'd be hard-pressed to get them to make eye contact, goldfish are apparently among the many strange companions earning the emotional support animal designation these days. According to Republican strategist and regular political talking head Ana Navarro, during a flight out of Albany in March 2018, airport officials announced over a loudspeaker that someone had left an emotional support goldfish at security.

Sometimes, emotional support animals are not so far off from their human counterparts—like capuchin monkeys, for example. In fact, capuchins are so adept at helping humans that organizations like Helping Hands Monkey Helpers will train them as service animals who can do everything from turn on lights to insert DVDs into DVD players.

However, some vets advise against keeping them for non-medical purposes: "As non-domesticated animals, monkeys may be nice as babies but once they reach maturity, they usually become aggressive and very difficult keep. They also have a tendency to bite, scratch, and throw feces," says Dr. Gary Richter, a Veterinary Health Expert with Rover.com. "Without the normal social structure they would have in a group of wild monkeys, these animals will develop severe emotional issues that will lead to destructive and violent behavior."

Despite their small size, that emotional support tarantula won't be as easy to travel with as it once was. According to American Airlines, spiders are no longer welcome onboard, even if it's in an emotional support capacity.

These prickly little pals may be deemed emotional support animals by their owners, but they're still Erinaceomorpha non grata on some planes. In May 2018, due to an uptick in strange support animals making it to 30,000 feet, American Airlines announced that hedgehogs would no longer be welcome on their flights.

Hamsters—those furry little rodents you kept begging your parents for every time you passed a pet store as a kid—are more than adorable Instagram fodder. In fact, some people keep them as emotional support pets, too. Their service doesn't always end happily, however: in early 2018, as reported by USA Today, a woman claimed that an employee of Spirit Airlines told her that she had to flush her emotional support hamster down the toilet—and she complied.

Want an emotional support animal that loves red meat and might steal the earplugs off your nightstand? Emotional support ferrets have got you covered. Just make sure they're well-behaved (and have proper paperwork) if you're traveling with them—in 2017, a woman's not-properly-documented emotional support ferret reportedly held up a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Jacksonville.

Turkeys aren't the only large bird getting their due as emotional support animals. According to Redditor RoightThen, during their time as a ramp agent, they witnessed a passenger traveling through the airport with an emotional support goose.

Barnyards are apparently full of terrific emotional support animals, depending on who you ask. In fact, in Ireland, the Donkey Sanctuary Belfast uses donkeys as therapy animals for young cancer patients.

Horses aren't the only large mammals getting their time in the spotlight as emotional support animals. In 2015, a number of emotional support llamas got loose in Arizona, getting a staggering amount of media coverage for their flight from the senior center where they'd been working.

Small, inconspicuous, and easy to train, rats have become an increasingly popular emotional support pet in recent years. Considering their intelligence and social nature, some experts advise getting more than one rat, though—and risk being that person trying to bring not one but two rats without as you move about the world.

What's more relaxing than petting a fluffy little bunny? Perhaps it's their kind eyes or their calm demeanor, but rabbits are getting more and more accepted for the emotional support services they provide.

If you want an emotional support animal that will sit in your lap, snack on carrots, and be about as unobtrusive as pets get, try a guinea pig on for size. Fortunately, more and more places are getting used to seeing these adorable little rodents used for emotional support: in 2013, Michigan's Grand Valley State University finally relented and allowed a student to keep her emotional support guinea pig in her room with her—but only after she filed a lawsuit against the school, as reported by MLive.

Even if fur and feathers aren't your style, there are still emotional support animals out there for you. According to one flight attendant's story, as told to Yahoo!, she's even seen emotional support turtles on her flights.

Are pigeons just flying rats, or so much more? If you ask UC Berkeley student Cynthia Zhou, they're also great emotional support animals—in fact, Zhou wrote an essay for PigeonRescue.org on the many ways in which her emotional support pigeon, Miu, had improved her life.

The hen's noisier counterpart has also found its calling as a service animal. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, an emotional support rooster called Little G has found himself at the center of local controversy, with many of Little G's neighbors finding themselves disturbed by the noisy bird.

Yes, sheep are good for more than just wool. Out of the Ashes, a non-profit organization that connects children with nature, has had their sheep vetted as emotional support animals, too.