Originally Posted by
PTravel
I'm sorry, but you've lost me here. Is your point that "emotional support animals" might be trained by their owners? I don't mean to put words in your mouth but, if so, I don't understand your point at all. My dog was very well trained, but she wasn't an "emotional support dog," she was just my pet and I wouldn't have dreamed of taking her on an airplane.
Except that I doubt that will happen for one very simple reason: an "emotional support animal" is no more nor less than a good pet. My dog was a great friend and companion -- she knew when I was sad, and would come over and lick my face. She knew when I was happy, and would play with me. That's what made her a great pet. As I said in a prior post, someone whose mental state is so precarious that they can't go out in public without their pet has no business being on an airplane. Emotional problems are very real and they should be treated by doctor. Investing so much of one's psyche in an animal so that someone can't even bear to have the animal in a carrier under the seat is not a solution to emotional problems. I'm not a doctor, and this is just my opinion, but I simply don't buy it.
It may just be confusion over what we both mean by trained. Your dog was a great friend and companion to be sure, but I doubt was trained to what I'd ever consider a standard that would earn her the right to be uncrated on a commercial aircraft. You seem to assume that all emotional support animals would have one level of training, I was just making the factual argument that there are dogs flying as emotional support animals that have a training level equal to certified service dogs coming from bona fide schools. These animals may be far and few between, but they are out there. I say this knowing of a couple examples. A debate on the legalities and ethics of emotional support animals needs to be factual and take into account all applicable variables, or it isn't of much use. I for one would like to see a training standard be talked about by the airlines, but to do this there has to be recognition of different standards of training. For instance, an emotional support animal that has cross certified with a decent therapy animal standard or is a retired signal dog, will have suitable training that a house pet who went to Petco puppy kindergarten won't have.