Table 1.

Summary of recommended definitions for commonly used terms describing animals working in support roles for people, in alphabetical order. Terms that we recommend phasing out are shaded, and a term that we recommend modifying is italicized.

Term	General Purpose	Training Standards *	Public Access **	Key Points
Assistance Animal	Lives with and supports a handler with a disability/disabilities (physical, developmental, intellectual, neurological, and/or psychological)	Advanced	Yes	Umbrella term for an animal typically living with a handler with a disability (or a family member who could serve as the handler) that has been trained to perform tasks that mitigate effects of that specific disability, with behavior and hygiene maintenance suitable for public access.
Companion Animal	Companionship	None	No	Synonymous with pet (i.e., an animal kept purely for companionship). Other benefits to well-being may be enjoyed by the owner, but this is not a requirement.
Educational/School Support Animal	Educational support—improve learning or developmental outcomes for students	High	No	An animal who works in educational settings with a handler to improve educational outcomes for participants. Educational activities must be structured, goal-directed, and overseen by a licensed teacher or pedagogue.
Emotional Support Animal	Emotional support, primarily in the home, for an owner with a diagnosed disability	None	No	Differs from assistance animal in training standards for public access and does not perform specific tasks to provide disability support tasks/behaviors.
Facility Animal	Depends on the specific role of the animal	High	No	Typically, an animal with training to work in a specific facility (e.g., a hospital) or type of facility (e.g., legal settings). Recommend mostly phasing this term out due to broad, vague nature of current use and overlap with other terms in most cases, with the exception of animals working in legal settings, which we recommend calling “justice facility animal”.
Service Animal	Synonymous with assistance animal	Advanced	Yes	This term is commonly used to describe assistance animals in some North American and European countries. Recommend phasing out and using the term “assistance animal”.
Skilled Companion Animal	Disability support for an individual with a disability under the guidance of a facilitator	Advanced	Yes—when with facilitator	Term used by some assistance animal providers. Recommend phasing out and using the term “assistance animal”.
Therapy Animal	Improve specific therapeutic outcomes	High	No	Animal is integrated into therapy or treatment which must be structured, goal-directed, and overseen by a licensed healthcare professional trained in the relevant therapeutic field.
Visitation or Visiting Animal	Improve general quality of life, various settings (e.g., hospitals, aged care, residential care)	High	No	Well-trained animal–handler team, primarily performed on a non-professional or volunteer basis. Differs from therapy animal (above) as programs are unstructured with no specific therapeutic goals, although some participants may experience benefits to well-being.

* Training standards: none = no training of any kind required; high = training for appropriate temperament and behavior to interact with people who have specific needs; advanced = training for public access and disability support. ** Public access indicates whether the animal has the legal right to enter public places that are usually off-limits to animals (e.g., cafes, restaurants, banks, and national parks), depending on legal regulations in the jurisdiction.