[BCMA] Emotional Support Animal policy

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

Hi Alecska,

I wanted to weigh in from the perspective of a former dog trainer.
Emotional Support Animals (ESA) have zero training, zero testing, and zero
requirements to be labelled as such. There's no official designation,
licensing, or any other scrutiny placed on the animal. So people can (and
frequently do) just call their untrained pet an ESA and ask for
accommodation. You could pick up any animal and call it and ESA. There's
nothing else to it.

As a result, these ESAs end up having significant negative interactions
with actual service dogs on a very regular basis. Since the ESAs have no
training, they can often be aggressive, domineering, anxious, and attack
service dogs who are trained to ignore such distractions. They also don't
have to be potty trained, or behaviour-tested and could easily go to the
bathroom in your facility, attack patrons, or damage objects inside. As
such, the vast majority of service dog users ask that people do not
accommodate ESAs as it makes the task of a service dog significantly more
difficult. Service dogs have been injured, or missed performing their tasks
(causing seizures, diabetic ketoacidosis, etc. for their handler) because
of being distracted by an ESA who's trying to bite, play, interact, etc..

I would strongly recommend, and most service dog users also recommend
*not *making
accommodations for ESAs. Not only do they lack any training or
certification, they can be an active hazard to patrons, property, service
dogs, and their handlers.

As a postscript, however, Psychiatric Service dogs are not ESAs. They are
task trained and certified for people with psychiatric conditions. They
have all the same training as a service dog, they're just providing service
for a different medical condition.

*Melissa Ratcliff*
*BC Society for the Museum of Original Costume (SMOC)*


1489 McRae Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6H 1V1
604-216-7662
www.smoc.ca
Facebook:  @smocostume <https://www.facebook.com/SMOCostume/>
Instagram: @smocostume <https://www.instagram.com/smocostume/>


On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 3:33 PM Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <
listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca> wrote:

> Hello,
> I was wondering if anyone has a policy or framework around Emotional
> Support Animals they could share? We already allow service and guide dogs
> but are looking if we can reasonably expand to include ESAs to make our
> space more accessible, as it has been requested several times in the past.
>
> -- Alecska Divisadero (pronouns: she/her or they/them)
>
> *Operations & Venue Administrator*
>
> *Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art*
>
> *operations at billreidgallery.ca* <operations at billreidgallery.ca> -
> *www.billreidgallery.ca* <http://www.billreidgallery.ca/>
>
> My office hours are usually Tuesday to Friday 12-5 pm but my schedule
> varies each week. As I am working part time and mostly remotely, reaching
> out by email is best.
>
> *We respectfully acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh
> (Squamish), and səl’il’wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and all the Indigenous
> peoples of the Northwest Coast, on whose traditional and unceded
> territories we live and work.*
>
>
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