PAW PRINTS

animals for the soul

Emotional support animals (ESA) were relatively unheard of here until a couple of months back, when online news reports of a Florida woman flushing her “emotional support” hamster down the toilet surfaced. The story goes that 21-year-old college student Belen Aldecosea had a flight to catch, and her ESA-certified pet hamster wasn’t allowed on board. A Spirit Airlines employee purportedly advised her to let the hamster loose outdoors or flush it down the toilet—the woman chose the latter and is now considering suing the airline.

So what exactly are ESAs? These are animals that help to alleviate and comfort those who suffer from mental health issues and emotional instability. While this category of pets is uncommon in Singapore, it is popular in the U.S.. However, Dr Jessie Chua, clinical psychologist from The Resilienz Clinic, points out that an ESA is not a recognised form of mental health therapy. “It can assist the patient in daily living—such as giving a person with depression a sense of responsibility so that they will get out of bed