Emotional Support Animals (ESA)

All Emotional Support Animal Documentation must come from an external, licensed provider who oversees the treatment of your diagnosed disability and has an established relationship with you. It must describe in detail how one or more of your life’s major functions are substantially limited in the residential environment, and how no other means of intervention are available, meaning the ESA is essential to your ability to have equal access to your housing environment.

All ESA requests must include a completed and signed Emotional Support Animal Application.

Please provide current medical records of your ESA (applications without medical documentation will not be approved).

Once your request is complete:

• ODS will review your application and documentation to determine if the ESA request meets eligibility criteria for a medically necessary, reasonable housing accommodation for the purpose of equal access.
• The animal is NOT permitted to reside in campus housing until ODS communicates their final approval. If a student brings their animal before they are approved, it will result in the removal of the animal and the student will go through the community standards & accountability process.
• The student must comply with all Residence Life requirements, deposit/application procedures and deadlines, and behavior code policies regarding noise, cleanliness and conduct. Students are responsible for their animal’s care and behavior at all times, and under all circumstances, per the ESA Housing Agreement.

ESA Determination Process

The ESA determination is guided by compliance with the requirements above, as well as the following criteria:

• The student must demonstrate through their application and documentation that they cannot access their living and learning
  environments but for the requested exception of having the ESA reside with them.
• The student must demonstrate through their application and documentation that NO other means or methods, such as medication, counseling, other housing accommodations, interventions, or treatments adequately manage or improve the symptoms of their disability in the context of housing. If other means and methods, ARE available and effective, then no exception will be granted.
  • The medical or psychological documentation must be from a licensed provider who is specifically overseeing the treatment of the diagnosed disability and are NOT employed by the Curry University. The provider must be actively overseeing the ESA as a prescribed treatment method, and evidence of this must be present in the documentation they provide. Primary care physicians or medication prescribers are inadmissible providers.

Student Responsibility for Emotional Support Animals in Residence Halls

The following policies are pertinent to approved ESAs at Curry.

• The approved ESA is allowed to reside with the student in their residence hall and is allowed to be taken outdoors anywhere on campus grounds where students are allowed to go.
• The ESA is NOT permitted in any academic or administrative buildings, athletic facilities, or laboratory settings.
• Curry College is not responsible for the care or supervision of the ESA.

The following policies will be strictly enforced, and violations are subject to the Curry College Student Conduct process. The ESA's owner is responsible for the cost, care, and supervision of ESA, including:

• Compliance with any laws pertaining to animal licensing, vaccination, and owner identification.
• Keeping the animal under control and taking effective action when it is out of control; feeding, walking, and disposing of waste; waste disposal via university plumbing or indoor trash containers is prohibited. Waste must be recovered, bagged, and placed in an outside trash container.
• Curry will not require any surcharges or fees for an ESA in the residence halls, because it is a disability related accommodation. However, the animal’s owner will be charged for damage caused by an ESA to the same extent that Curry would normally charge any person for the damage they cause to College property.
• Students who live with approved ESAs must comply with all College rules regarding noise, safety, disruption, and cleanliness.
• The owner of the animal will agree to hold harmless Curry College for any damage or any injury to others caused by their ESA.
• If necessary, the removal of an ESA, with all necessary cleaning, repairs and/or pest control will be done at the expense of
  the responsible resident.
• At least annually, or upon request, the student must register the animal with ODS, and must provide veterinary evidence of health, and vaccination status according to Massachusetts statute.
• An ESA must be housebroken (i.e., trained so that it controls its waste elimination, absent illness or accident)
• The emotional support animal must be kept under control by a harness, leash, or other tether at all times.