The Strangest Emotional Support Animals That People Actually Have

In the past, it wasn’t unusual to see service dogs and their owners out together in public. The sight of a German shepherd leading someone with a vision impairment probably wouldn’t turn any heads. Today, there are just as many, if not more, emotional support animals (ESAs), and some will definitely turn people’s heads. In this article, we’ve put together a list of the 36 strangest emotional support animals that people actually have.

Dolphin

Imagine having a dolphin as your emotional support animal. These highly intelligent and gregarious mammals seem like otherworldly companions. And, where would you even keep this wonderful ESA? Would you need an Olympic-sized pool to keep it?

The answer is no, you wouldn’t need a pool. In fact, Dolphin Human Therapy provides everything for you. This company, based in Miami, provides adults and children with unique opportunities for “dolphin-time.” They offer individualized emotional support, creating a one-on-one supportive relationship between the person and the dolphin.

Alligator

Adult alligators can reach up to more than 1,000 pounds. They grow to be 9 to 15 feet long. These meat-eating reptiles have about 75 teeth with a bite force of almost 3,000 pounds per square inch. How could anything go wrong with having one as a companion? In September 2023, Wally the ESA alligator became the center of attention when his owner brought him to Citizens Bank Park to meet the Phillies players. The human has had Wally as his emotional support animal for the past eight years. This particular alligator is famous on TikTok.

Kangaroo

Acquiring a bouncy companion that can reach over 6 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds isn’t a typical prescription for depression. The powerful hind legs of a kangaroo can break a human’s bones, and their sharp claws can injure people’s eyes and flesh. Yet, there are some kangaroos in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, that are one woman’s emotional support animals.

Diane Moyer and her husband live on a 70-acre Wisconsin farm. In 2008, they bought their first joey at an exotic animal auction. Since that time, she’s added more kangaroos to her mob. In 2017, though, a local Beaver Dam resident called the police when Diane showed up with a joey at the area’s McDonald’s. She showed the officer a note from her doctor explaining that the young kangaroo was an ESA for her cancer and depression, and she was allowed to finish her meal.

Camel

Can a camel cause injuries to people? The answer is yes. According to the National Institute of Health, most camel-related deaths and injuries are caused by people being stomped, kicked, sat upon, bitten, shaken, or thrown. They can grow to over 7 feet and weigh over 1,300 pounds — a fact that makes them a physical threat on their own. For Rob and Robin Lyon of the Lyon Ranch in Sonoma, CA, camels are anything but threatening. They’ve been raising camels for years and use them to bring comfort to terminally ill people and children. The Lyons are meticulous in preparing these camelids to ride elevators, be polite inside hospice rooms, and gently nuzzle and comfort dying patients.

Wolf

Despite being so closely related to dogs, you can’t easily train or tame wolves. They just don’t have the same instinctual affiliation to humans that dogs have. Despite the fact that wolves are inherently wild animals, Nick Battles adopted a North American grey wolf as a 6-week-old cub. This cub named Kodie helps Battles know when the diabetic owner needs to take his insulin, as well as offering him emotional support.

Cow

With their big brown eyes and gentle lowing, cows look like innocuous barnyard animals. Nevertheless, 20 to 22 people are killed by cows each year, which is more than the number of annual shark attacks on humans. They’re also much too big to be cuddled on your lap or taken on a car ride. Yet, some of these bovines are used to provide comfort and emotional support to people. The Gentle Barn offers cow-hugging therapy. Anyone in need of emotional support can visit one of these locations to spend an hour hugging a cow, meditating with them, and receiving reassurance. While the founder, psychology major Ellie Laks, reports that cow-hugging therapy works, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that farm animals can carry harmful germs and reminds any cow huggers to immediately wash their hands after their emotional support encounters.

Turkey

Some people may look at turkeys as merely a food source. Others consider their physical appearance rather off-putting. Their fleshy caruncles, strange-looking snoods, and wiggly wattles all lend to their truly unique appearance. For others, however, this feathered friend provides companionship and support. Back in 2016, airlines were still required by the Air Carrier Access Act to accommodate emotional support animals with proper documentation. At that time, a woman brought her turkey onto a Delta flight as her ESA. She apparently rolled the turkey through the airport in a wheelchair and then brought it with her onto the plane.

Llama

Llamas, when raised properly, can be very gentle animals. They have soft fur and doe-like eyes that make them appealing animals to many. Yet, their size doesn’t put them first on everyone’s list of emotional support animals. Lori and Shannon Gregory, a mother and daughter from Oregon, have a llama named Rojo. They originally bought him, along with an alpaca named Napoleon, to keep their grass in check on the land they owned. Eventually, the two decided to have Rojo certified as a therapy animal and brought him to visit hundreds of people who have enjoyed his emotional support.

Peacock

Peacocks, particularly the males, are elegant and stunningly gorgeous birds. When they walk across the lawn with their ornamental plumage on parade, they make for a striking picture. Conversely, when they sit outside your window in the early morning hours, making their ear-splitting hoots, neither you nor your neighbors may find them so enticing. Peacocks are domesticated birds that can be tamed. However, they are not cuddly and affectionate, which begs the question of just how they provide emotional support to a human. Notwithstanding, a Brooklyn artist brought her ESA peacock, Dexter, with her to board a flight from Newark, NJ, to Los Angeles.

Donkey

Miniature donkeys are popular as ESAs and therapy animals not only in the United States but also in many other countries. They’re loving animals, and their size puts them at eye level with people who need wheelchairs for mobility. There are many places that use miniature donkeys as ESAs, such as Painted Promise Ranch in Arizona.

Monkey

Capuchin monkeys have been trained as service animals for quadriplegic patients, serving as their hands. They’re often called helper monkeys because of their ability to be trained to help those who need things grasped, picked up, or operated.

Tarantula

Tarantulas have become so popular as pets that several tarantula groups have formed on Facebook. According to a therapist on one tarantula forum, the interest in and care for their pet tarantulas has pulled many people out of deep depression. The therapist themself talked about their pet, Spidey, who helps them deal with ongoing anxiety.

Bearded Dragon

Bearded dragons have become one of the most popular lizard pets around. These little lizards are friendly, lively, and social creatures. They are curious, tame, and show sensitivity to and awareness of their owners. A high school girl named Megan Curran from Texas told a reporter that her bearded dragon, Chief, has helped her in her struggle with depression and anxiety.

Hedgehog

These adorable little creatures can bring joy to people simply by their physical appeal. Though their backs are full of little spiky barbs, their tummies are soft and lend themselves to a soothing rub. Moreover, these little bundles of charm aren’t merely cute. They’re able to learn particular behaviors through positive reinforcement, making them strange but amazing little ESAs.

Ferret

These long-bodied creatures are related to wolverines, weasels, minks, and ermines. They’re controversial, though popular, even as mere pets. Yet, many people avow that their playful natures blended with their natural ability to entertain and bond with humans make them highly suitable emotional support animals.

Miniature Horse

Up until early December 2020, airlines were required to allow almost any kind of emotional support animal to fly with its owner. Then, at the end of 2020, the US ruled that airlines could ban all emotional support animals from flying. This was largely due to the worldwide abuse of ESA documentation and people using it to get their pets documented falsely. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) recognizes only dogs and, in some cases, miniature horses as service animals. However, this requires intense training of the animal and even more documentation. While a miniature horse may be certified as an emotional support animal, this doesn’t ensure its acceptance on planes or in other public places.

Duck

In October 2016, Carla Fitzgerald took her duck, Daniel, on a flight from Milwaukee to Asheville. Most people on her American Airlines flight were reportedly delighted to see her emotional support animal with her. Of course, Daniel Turducken Stinkerbutt was wearing little red shoes and a Captain America diaper, which made him irresistibly adorable.

Pig

Pigs are clean, intelligent animals that can easily bond with their owners. They are actually as trainable as dogs. Though they can make suitable ESAs and are even recognized as potential service animals by the ADA, these little piggies can grow quite large and be rather stubborn. In fact, in 2014, a woman and her 80-pound emotional support pig had to leave the plane when the pig began defecating in the aisle and howling loudly enough to bother the other passengers.

Marmoset

They’re small, human-like, and sociable. What could possibly go wrong with keeping one as an emotional support animal? The answer is plenty. These intelligent creatures get bored easily, causing them severe stress. They mark their scent all over their environment. Most importantly, coming from a tropical and complex habitat, their needs can’t be met easily. Despite the issues and controversy surrounding owning marmosets as pets, some people still decide to keep them as emotional support animals. However, without proper documentation, the owner risks being kicked off flights.

Snake

The 2006 Samuel L. Jackson film, Snakes on a Plane, was an American action horror movie that had some people leery of flying for a time after seeing it. Although emotional support snakes are no longer accepted on airlines, one was accepted but then left behind in 2017. A passenger had forgotten his ESA reptile on the plane, and it ended up staying on for the next flight. The snake on this flight from Tampa to Newark turned out to be a rather innocuous garter snake. A little boy spotted it sleeping, so airline staff scooped it up, put it into a plastic bag, and placed it in the overhead bin until reaching their next destination.

Chicken

Chickens aren’t merely barnyard denizens. They’re also great emotional support animals. They enjoy sitting on their owner’s lap and being petted and stroked. It was when Nikki Pike decided to take care of someone’s three chickens for a weekend that she realized how much they helped her anxiety. She’s owned emotional support chickens ever since.

Goldfish

It’s difficult to imagine how goldfish can serve as emotional support for people since they’re constrained to fish bowls and can’t cuddle with you. Yet, some people may find that watching them swim around in their bowls meditative and calming. In fact, on a March 2018 flight from Albany, one such person forgot their goldfish at airport security.

Goat

Goats are emotionally intelligent animals with the ability to discern human emotions. Just by looking at someone’s face, a goat can see whether or not a person is happy.

Parrot

Parrots are one of the most intriguing of the bird species. They’re colorful and exotic-looking, and they can talk. It’s because of how interactive they are that they have become more common as ESAs. Charities like Parrots for Patriots rescue these birds and then provide armed service veterans with them as emotional support and companions.

Sugar Glider

From their big round eyes to their long furry tails, sugar gliders are charming little animals. Sugar gliders are becoming more popular as exotic pets and emotional support pets. However, these little marsupials are nocturnal, so they won’t really be able to offer much comfort during the day.

Squirrel

Squirrels are those cute little rodents with the big bushy tails. Though they are truly wild creatures, people often try to domesticate them. However, once they’re “domesticated,” people can actually train squirrels to use a litter box for toileting. Some cities and states have laws against keeping these rodents as pets. In 2017, a Florida man rescued a squirrel after Hurricane Matthew had struck. He kept it as an emotional support animal. Unfortunately, his landlord still threatened to evict him if he didn’t let it go.