Written question WQ85561

“Therapy dog” or “emotional support dog’ are generic terms used to describe a dog which benefits people in a therapeutic way.

Assistance dogs are legally defined in the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits service providers from discriminating against people in need of an assistance dog and requires reasonable adjustments to be made to accommodate disabled customers and their assistance dogs.

British travel companies usually recognise guide and assistance dogs trained by certain approved organisations so they can travel on more routes or use forms of transport where other animals are not permitted.

Currently, therapy and emotional support animals do not have legal recognition in the way that assistance animals do in the UK and are therefore not exempt from the requirements for companion animals.

Whilst assistance dogs must also satisfy the same animal and public health requirements for travel as other companion animals, there are protocols in place by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to prioritise their entry to the UK. The common practice is for assistance dogs which are not fully compliant with conditions for entry to be given a derogation from the requirement to quarantine under specific terms, allowing them to continue their service.