Service animals, trained to handle different tasks for their person, have been a boon for disabled persons for decades. In this presentation, we will examine and explain what makes an animal a service animal pursuant to Washington and Federal law. Service animals perform different functions than Emotional Support Animals (ESA)s. ESAs are protected, but to a lesser extent, under Washington law, and ESAs provide tangible benefits to persons in need of emotional support. A tenant cannot be excluded from housing on the basis of a service animal or an ESA, but there are additional steps needed to protect tenants seeking housing with an ESA. There are no additional requirements regarding a service animal, except possibly educating housing providers. Responsibility for the service animal and the ESA’s conduct remains squarely with the tenant, and we will discuss what this means. The Northwest MHTTC is proud to offer this webinar in partnership with the Tenant Law Center.
Kasey Burton is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Tenant Law Center, which provides eviction prevention and tenant advocacy services to King County. Kasey has spent several years practicing landlord-tenant law as both a right-to-counsel attorney for tenants facing eviction and providing eviction prevention assistance, which has allowed her to pursue her passion for housing justice. Kasey attended the University of Washington for both her Bachelor’s in Political Science, with a minor in Law, Societies, and Justice, and her Juris Doctorate. She is currently working on her Master’s in Public Administration at the University of Colorado Denver and hopes to use this degree to facilitate her engagement in policy change that provides Washington citizens who are tenants or unhoused with the protections they deserve.
