We Are Coming for Your Phony Service Animals

[T_R_Oglodyte]

from Flyer Talk:

We Are Coming for Your Phony Service Animals

 

[x3 skier]

YESSSSS!

Cheers

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I was walking through SeaTac airport a month ago, near the entry to Concourse C, and came across two dogs, both wearing "service animal" vests, yipping at each other, nose-to-nose. They were both on hand-held leashes from their owners, the owners standing about 15 feet apart from each other. So these two supposed "service animals", yipping at teach other nose-to-nose, with leashes extended, were blocking nearly one-third of the width of the transit area on one of the busiest concourses at one of the busiest airports in the US. And neither owner was doing anything beyond not letting out any more leash.

My mother taught me that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So I bit my tongue.

 

[geist1223]

Properly trained service dog would not be engaged in the above behavior.

 

[Luanne]

Properly trained service dog would not be engaged in the above behavior.

And, if for some reason a true service animal was behaving in this manner, it can be removed.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Properly trained service dog would not be engaged in the above behavior.

Precisely my point. These were clearly not service animals, and passing them off as service animals was an affront to both owners and people who truly rely on and use service animals.

++++++++++++++

IMHO - the situation is out of control. Since individual airlines are the ones that I believe should be responsible for flight line issues, I think I am in favor of a program in which passengers can't bring an animal into the passenger cabin unless the animal is cleared by the airline. And that clearance involves getting approved by a professional that is designated by the airline, and provided at the expense of the traveler. If you want to fly with your animal, you contact one of the professionals on the airlines list to get approval. You provide whatever documentation that individual requires to get clearance as either a service animal or an emotional support animal, with any attendant special provisions. And you do it at your expense. You can't just show up at the gate with your animal in a vest and expect to be boarded.

I can see where this would easily evolve to a situation where an animal gets the equivalent of a known traveler number for an airline. After the animal has been cleared once, the animal is approved for future travel unless an incident happens to revoke approval.

Companion to that would be some form of rule relieving the airline of liability for the decisions they make, so that the airline staff can make decisions they feel appropriate without feeling as if they need to tilt in favor of bending rules to allow boarding. Explanation: if you devise a system where there is little to no liability for allowing a questionable boarding, but there is significant liability if you deny a questionable boarding, you will end up with a system in which all questionable boardings are allowed. And that wouldn't be any different from what we have now.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I applaud any changes in this area. The fake service animal BS is gone way way too far. It does a huge dis-service to real legitimate service animal. Pun intended.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Another option would be to allow airlines to designate specific flights as animals or not allowed. I strongly support that true service animals should be allowed on any flight, so I would accompany that with strict provisions to identify animals that are truly service animals and allow those animals on any flight.

As to pricing, I would simply allow airlines to sort that out in the marketplace. Is there more revenue from charging a premium for an animal free flight and what should that premium be? Or is there more revenue from charging people an extra fee to bring their animal on the plane and what should that fee be?

And I would quit all of the nonsense about emotional support animal. If the animal is a truly qualified and verified service animal, the animal boards along with the passenger. All other animals pay a fee set by the airline, whether that be as an add-on fee or as embedded in the fare for an animals allowed flight. And if the animal is so large as to intrude on into another seat, then a second ticket needs to be purchased, with the airline having discretion as to whether the second ticket is required. So if you show up at the airport with a Great Dane and only one ticket, you might end up not being on that flight. Passenger bears the risk, not the airline.

Is it harsh to require people who need emotional support animals to pay more to travel? I submit that this is no more harsh than when people who have people who have special needs buy a car. We don't require that auto dealers sell a special needs modified van for the same price as Chevy Spark.

 

[pedro47]

Thanks you and Thanks you.
Can a pit bull be a service animal ?

 

[WinniWoman]

Another option would be to allow airlines to designate specific flights as animals or not allowed. I strongly support that true service animals should be allowed on any flight, so I would accompany that with strict provisions to identify animals that are truly service animals and allow those animals on any flight.

As to pricing, I would simply allow airlines to sort that out in the marketplace. Is there more revenue from charging a premium for an animal free flight and what should that premium be? Or is there more revenue from charging people an extra fee to bring their animal on the plane and what should that fee be?

And I would quit all of the nonsense about emotional support animal. If the animal is a truly qualified and verified service animal, the animal boards along with the passenger. All other animals pay a fee set by the airline, whether that be as an add-on fee or as embedded in the fare for an animals allowed flight. And if the animal is so large as to intrude on into another seat, then a second ticket needs to be purchased, with the airline having discretion as to whether the second ticket is required. So if you show up at the airport with a Great Dane and only one ticket, you might end up not being on that flight. Passenger bears the risk, not the airline.

Is it harsh to require people who need emotional support animals to pay more to travel? I submit that this is no more harsh than when people who have people who have special needs buy a car. We don't require that auto dealers sell a special needs modified van for the same price as Chevy Spark.

I don't buy the emotional support animal bs at all. All pets are emotional support animals. That is why people have pets in the first place. They fill an emotional need for love and so on. Service animals only- like seeing eye dogs, etc. SMH....

 

[WVBaker]

I don't buy the emotional support animal bs at all. All pets are emotional support animals. That is why people have pets in the first place. They fill an emotional need for love and so on. Service animals only- like seeing eye dogs, etc. SMH....

How Do I Make My Pet Into a Legitimate Emotional Support Animal?

"It is required by law that you obtain an ESA Letter beforehand. If you are seeking an emotional support animal, you must have a verifiable disability and a legitimate need for an emotional support animal. Before issuing an ESA letter, your medical professional will assess your needs and determine whether you meet the federal definition of having a disability. If your current doctor is ignorant to the benefits of an ESA or if you do not have access to a therapist, ESA Doctors can help connect you with a therapist to see if you qualify for an ESA letter."

https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/emotional-support-animal-laws/

 

[x3 skier]

It is “interesting” that people traveled for years without so-called emotional support animals until they found out they didn’t have to pay a fee or use a carrier if they bought a cheap vest for their pet.

Cheers

 

[heathpack]

It is “interesting” that people traveled for years without so-called emotional support animals until they found out they didn’t have to pay a fee or use a carrier if they bought a cheap vest for their pet.

Cheers

Not that I condone the “fake service dog” behavior (nor would I ever engage in such behavior personally) but there’s a multitude of reasons people tell me they’ve gone the fake service dog route.

The most common one is the dog has a serious (life threatening) medical condition and is too large to fly under the seat.

For example, I have a client who is an elderly lady with a Labrador with terrible epilepsy. The dog can have 25 seizures over 1-2 days. The lady’s family is in Massachusetts, she lives in LA and every year she spends the entire summer with the family. I’ve recommended strongly against the dog flying in the cargo hold, so for years, she rented a car and spent 3 days driving cross country with the dog. Last year she finally decided she was too old to be doing that (she’s 80+ years old) and told me she’d gone the fake service dog route. I was shocked because she’s this old-school patrician-type who I would have expected to be the first to follow every rule to the letter. I’m sure it’s stressful for her to have to lie. But her options are few- euthanize her dog, try to find an alternative home for a terrible epileptic, try to find someone to watch a terrible epileptic for 4 months, not go home for the summer anymore, hire a driver for 3 days of travel, etc.

Additionally, most airlines are scary in the way they handle pets flying in cargo. Animals die (mostly from heat stress) and are lost (animal bolts a carrier when the door is open) routinely. It’s hard for me to understand where the mistakes are made because most of what the airlines do when handling animals in cargo isn’t really that hard.

The other factor on the rise is that people increasingly see their pets as family members, not “just” animals that can be easily replaced. This has reasonable consequences- reluctance to fly pets in cargo. Irrational but non-problematic consequences- increasing desire to travel with their pets overall. And crazy consequences- lack of training/discipline or enforcement of rules of “public” behavior with the sense that your “beloveds” (pets or kids) behavior should never be an annoyance to others.

So I think what airlines really need to do is get their finger on the pulse as to why people fly with pets and meet those needs. It might mean that flying with a pet is a rare and expensive and inconvenient thing- ie there’s only occasional flights that will accommodate pets. But IMO if there’s zero alternative offered beyond “fly them in cargo” then people are forced to investigate work-around options, which then get shared far and wide on the internet and it starts to normalize this behavior to some people.

It’s tough because your average member of the public these days does not have a mindset of ‘greater good’. If Fluffy could reasonably fly in cargo and the airlines fixed the problems with flying in cargo, a large number of people would still try to circumvent the system so that Fluffy could sit next to them on the plane. So culturally we have a problem in this country that has many ramifications beyond fake service dogs.

I personally prefer to travel with my dogs. They are small and could fly under the seat if it ever came to needing to fly them. It would be pretty uncommon that I’d take them on an airline related trip though, mostly road trips. But they’re good travelers, crate trained and well behaved in public. We make adjustments to our travel to accommodate them of course, but still if we can manage a pet friendly condo based road trip, they’re joining us. They take at least one vacation a year with us. The biggest limiter to them not traveling more with us is the pet-unfriendly nature of timeshare travel.

 

[WinniWoman]

Leave your pets home period. Unless You truly need them due to physical limitations like being blind. That is what pet boarding is for. Many veterinarians have boarding. Or get a pet sitter. Deal with it. This is the way it is when you have a pet. Or else- don't have a pet.

 

[AJCts411]

And to those who are terrified of dogs, allergic, or who just plain don't like them? Those who abuse the system should expect to be denied boarding. And when you do...please take your childish tantrum to the parking garage.

A certified, trained service animal, certified by a national recognized/licensed organization...whole different story.

 

[heathpack]

Leave your pets home period. Unless You truly need them due to physical limitations like being blind. That is what pet boarding is for. Many veterinarians have boarding. Or get a pet sitter. Deal with it. This is the way it is when you have a pet. Or else- don't have a pet.

I flew with my pet in an under the seat carrier once. My mother was ill and I was flying cross country for an unspecified period of time.

I actually have a place I could leave the dog (my clinic) for an undetermined period of time, but 1. It would not be good for her and 2. Most people don’t have ready access to that type of accommodation for the dog.

Really your position is IMO absurd. Don’t get a dog if you ever might move or have a distant family member become ill or have a dog develop an undesired but severe medical condition.

That’s ok for you to say, since obviously you can take-it-or-leave it as far as owning a pet goes. But there’s lots of positives to pet ownership- physical and mental health benefits- that just telling people to not own pets at all because that’s the solution that worked for you is silly IMO.

 

[WinniWoman]

Well- there are exceptions but then there is also cargo. I know- not ideal by any stretch.

For some traveling by car might be an option.

I am a big dog lover btw. I have had dogs all my life. I have not gotten another since my last ones passed in 2011 because I know we still will travel and need freedom.

 

[WVBaker]

"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings."
Helen Keller

 

[heathpack]

Well- there are exceptions but then there is also cargo. I know- not ideal by any stretch.

For some traveling by car might be an option.

I am a big dog lover btw. I have had dogs all my life. I have not gotten another since my last ones passed in 2011 because I know we still will travel and need freedom.

That’s a great solution for you I’m sure, but there’s a lot a people at your stage of life who would benefit from owning a pet. Because you’ve found a solution for you doesn’t mean that everyone else should avail themselves of the same solution.

Cargo should be a last resort IMO.

I’m in the business and I can tell you that leaving an animal in a boarding facility for weeks to months is a bad option.

Forcing a family moving overseas to find a new home for a pet- bad option.

Traveling by car is how I’d do it when possible. But it takes 3 days to drive across country and that’s not always possible. Years ago, my father died unexpectedly. I was on a flight (with my large dog in cargo, no other option) within hours. Driving over night solo by myself on zero sleep when upset by a death in the family- bad option.

My point being- there are sensible reasons people need to travel with animals. Saying they just shouldn’t have a pet in case one of these issues should arise is unreasonable IMO.

 

[Luanne]

Leave your pets home period. Unless You truly need them due to physical limitations like being blind. That is what pet boarding is for. Many veterinarians have boarding. Or get a pet sitter. Deal with it. This is the way it is when you have a pet. Or else- don't have a pet.

Well, there is the case when someone is moving, and flying, to their new destination. My bff did this with her cat. She and he daughter flew cross country, with the cat. Their cars were shipped.

 

[Synergy]

When I moved cross country on short notice, we were able to pay a reasonable fee to bring the cats onboard with us in carriers. When it came time to move back home, I had the luxury of having time to drive back. I would have walked with the cats on leashes before putting them in cargo, but Southwest made safe travel with them very easy when driving wasn't an option.

 

[WinniWoman]

Well- so I get everyone's point. Maybe as someone else suggested the airlines should have flights solely for people with non service animal pets. That would solve almost everything.

 

[silentg]

The photo on my avatar is my Grand dog. He goes everywhere with my daughter, he usually prefers to stay home now because he is 13 years old and has trouble seeing. Not a service dog or ESA just a good companion for my daughter and SIL.
When they travel he stays with us or I go over to their place to visit him.
Never been on a plane or a store or stayed in a timeshare.
He does go to work with my daughter, he loves to be with her.
We agree that he is a pet and no special vest is appropriate.
Silentg

 

[WVBaker]

I don't buy the emotional support animal bs at all.

I, on the other hand, completely understand the benefit of an emotional support animal.

Having retired from law enforcement, I have seen and experienced both the worst and the best of people. Inside me, the one thing that has terrified me the most throughout life, was a visit to a Dentist. One of those trips you can only put off for so long. Now understand, I'm not talking simple uneasiness or apprehension. My blood pressure would escalate from normal, prior to walking through that door, to a high
of 179/138 on occasion when entering. Taking Valium prior to a visit was the one and only way I could or would do it. I had an occasion that even that didn't work. It became such a problem that my previous dentist refused to perform any procedures. Not even a simple cleaning.
A friend recommended a new dentist that understands this and had a solution. Upon walking into the office, signing in and taking a seat, I was met by two yorkshire terriers who jumped up into the seat next to me. I understood at this point, that this was not going to be just another dreaded visit to the dentist.

I discovered that these two girls make their rounds the same as any dental assistant. If needed, they will stay by your side for any procedure.

Cal this "bs" if you wish however, with a little furry emotional support, I can complete this visit with blood pressure in check and without medication.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Well- so I get everyone's point. Maybe as someone else suggested the airlines should have flights solely for people with non service animal pets. That would solve almost everything.

I think that is a good, non-government regulated solution. Another option might be to reserve a certain portion of the cabin as animals allowed, with pricing options similar to that used for any other type of preferred seating.