Emotional Support Animals
sniffing out the facts
Melody and Harmony
A young Collie-Shepherd mix was about to be dumped in the blazing desert of the Coachella Valley. The apartment the pup called home had a no-pet policy, and her owners saw no choice but to leave her back where they got her.
Thankfully, a neighbor—a young college student named Melody Alvarez—rescued the pup before the owners even had a chance to commit the ruthless act. Melody broke her lease and moved into a pet-friendly apartment with a dog park, set on giving the dog—now named Harmony—the life she deserved.
It wasn’t long after Melody took Harmony under her wing that she realized that Harmony would be much more than just a pet.
At the time, Melody was struggling with a toxic combination of emotional issues, including depression and anxiety. She had been taking medications on and off for several years to help manage her symptoms.
While having Harmony for emotional support wasn’t her initial intention, the pup’s sweet demeanor and calming presence turned out more helpful than expected. “She’s a mood enhancer,” Melody says. “You can’t really be depressed when you have a dog that needs you.”
Harmony became Melody’s respite from the psychological suffering brought on by mental illness.
When Melody transferred to UCSB in 2013, she knew she had to bring Harmony with her. But she was faced with the challenge of finding pet-friendly housing in Isla Vista. “I couldn’t be separated from her; I needed her,” she says. “And the only availabilities I could find were places with no-pet policies. It felt like I had nowhere to live.”
She decided to consult a psychiatrist at UCSB’s Student Health Services about the possibility of having Harmony as an emotional support animal. Based on Melody’s medical history and ongoing symptoms, the psychiatrist prescribed an ESA to her as part her treatment.
With the prescription, Melody finally found a place to live.
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But the only reason she was able to secure the spot in the first place, she says, is because she didn’t tell the landlord about Harmony until after signing the lease. “If you tell them ahead of time, they’ll find a reason not to rent to you,” she says. “I ran into that a lot. Whenever I would apply to a place and tell them about my ESA, they’d make up excuses about other people getting there first so they wouldn’t have to rent to me. It was really messed up.”
After a year, the lease ended and Melody once again had to look for an apartment. A family member offered to pay her rent, but only if she moved to Tropicana Del Norte—a university-run residence hall.
But moving to Tropicana meant that she couldn’t bring Harmony. “[At Tropicana] you pay by the bed, not the room or apartment,” she says. “So they don’t even acknowledge ESA paperwork because having an animal means you’d be imposing on somebody else.”
Luckily, Melody was able to leave Harmony with her grandmother and mother for that year. But her mental health started declining, causing her to rely heavily on medication. “I probably doubled my dosage the year I lived at Trop,” she says. “I was constantly busy with classes, extracurriculars, and job searching, which all made me really stressed and anxious. Not having Harmony there was really hard, so I was going through a lot more prescriptions.”
After a year at Tropicana, Melody graduated and moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Isla Vista with her boyfriend. The apartment complex, run by the Koto Group, is pet-friendly. At first the apartment managers were giving her issues about paying pet rent, but they eventually let it go. Melody is happy with Koto and continues to live there.
With Harmony by her side again, Melody uses less medication and relies more on Harmony for emotional support. “She feels everything,” she says. “When I start to get upset, she’ll just come up and her ears will go back and she’ll just look at you. She just senses when something’s off and provides that physical presence that tells you, ‘I’m here.’”
The pooch has a strong sense of empathy and is quick to offer comfort to Melody in
times of hardship. In particular, Melody describes the difficult time when her grandmother passed away about a year ago. “Honestly, Harmony was always there,” she says tearing up. “She stayed by my side the whole time, she consoled me and made sure I was okay.” And being able to hold Harmony’s furry body helped ease the pain, especially on the days when Melody was too depressed to get out of bed.
Not only is Harmony the “best Netflix friend and cuddler in the world,” she also gives Melody a reason to get up in the morning and go outside. They often visit the beach or dog park, where Melody focuses on playing with Harmony and
taking in the natural surroundings. These simple trips play a big role in lifting Melody’s spirit and distracting her from painful thoughts.
If Melody hadn’t rescued Harmony, both their lives would’ve looked a whole lot different.
Now Harmony enjoys the beach, goes on road trips, and wears Seahawks jerseys. And Melody gets to reap the benefits of Harmony’s unconditional love.
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No matter what Melody may go through, Harmony’s emotional sensitivity never fails to provide Melody with therapeutic support she has come to rely on.