The Difference Between Service Animals, Therapy Animals, Companions, and “Social/Therapy” Animals

Service Animals are legally defined and are trained to meet the specific needs of their handlers with a disability. Service Animals may accompany their individuals with disabilities in public places. Service Animals are not considered pets.

Therapy Animals are not legally defined by federal law, but some states have laws defining them. They provide people with contact to animals, but are not limited to working with people who have disabilities. They are usually the personal pets of their handlers and work with their handlers to provide service to others. Therapy animals are not allowed in places of public accommodation that have “no pets” policies. Therapy animals usually are not service dogs.

Companion animal are not legally defined, but are accepted as another term for pets.

Social/Therapy Animals also have no legal definition. They often are animals that did not complete service dog training due to lack of time or other factors, and are made available as pets for people who have disabilities. These animals might or might not meet the definition of service animals.