ESAs have turned into an utter shitshow because there is no certifying body that says even so much as, “this animal has had all its shots.” Meanwhile lots of businesses advertise “registration” for a fee, even advocating it as a way of being allowed to take your pet with you wherever you like.
I’m not, in principle, against the idea of a squirrel as an ESA (to whatever extent they’re trainable), but right now, we’re in a hole of suck where the rules are kind of loose and the people who abuse them cause genuine problems. Even when we’re just talking highly domesticable animals like dogs–people have been literally mauled. Does a squirrel represent that kind of danger? Likely not, but here’s a question: Is it good for the squirrel? I briefly befriended some squirrels and when I looked into it, I found out rather quickly that it’s not really good to keep squirrels as pets because squirrels don’t really thrive in captivity. Not all animals are inherently suitable for these kinds of roles.
