No solution for mental health assistance dogs in the UK.
The DFD inbox is now regularly receiving enquiries from people suffering from depression who are desperate to register their emotional support dogs as proper mental health assistance dogs.
Frustratingly, unlike the USA, in Britain there is no legal or formal acceptance of the need for psychological assistance dogs.
Depression and mental illness continue to be unacknowledged as disabilities that should enable a sufferer to be as eligible for an assistance dogs as for any other condition.
Despite there being a recognised list of trainable tasks that cover most common forms of mental illness or depression documented by the Psychiatric Service Dog Society (The U.S. association for psychiatric assistance dogs), in the U.K. there continues to be no process or precedent to follow in order to register a psychological assistance dog.
People tell of having contacted the existing established UK assistance dog charities directly, and, as yet have been unable to elicit any support for a formal registration. This is a real conundrum of a situation that sadly has no solution for the foreseeable future.
Its disappointing that this very real need continues to be unrecognised by European regulation and the UK assistance dogs associations.
– Ed