Service Animal?
About two weeks ago on DL 397 to PVR, there was a woman sitting across the aisle from me (she was in the bulkhead row) with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever lying at her feet, occupying almost the entire space between the three seats and the bulkhead. I thought the other two people in the row were her traveling companions as they seemed to be perfectly OK with not having any place to put their feet...sometimes they held their feet up in the air; sometimes they extended them over the dog trying to reach the small amount of space between the dog and the wall. Turns out they were not with the woman at all.
During the boarding process, the dog lay there with its muzzle sticking out into the aisle. He was nearly stepped on or kicked numerous times, but fortunately all were just near misses.
I love animals, and this dog was perfectly behaved. He lay still on the floor for the entire trip and did not make a sound. The only problem with him was his size. I am not sure how I would have reacted if I had been sharing the same row...I do expect to have some place to put my feet, and if I had selected the bulkhead row so that I could have a little extra space, I would not have been happy with the situation.
I heard the woman tell someone that the airline charged her no pet-in-cabin fee since he was a service animal. I am not sure what the purpose of the dog was, but I suspect it was an "emotional support" animal, as she showed no outward sign of a physical disability. She had removed his little service jacket during the flight (I have read that for most service animals, this means that they are off-duty and can relax, but doesn't that mean that he would now be a pet-in-cabin instead of a service animal)?
Where is the line to be drawn? I do not know her specific situation, but abuse of "service animal" designation is apparently a growing problem, as I have learned from some internet research. People fake it so that they can take their animals to places that normally do not allow them.
Did you know that the ADA makes it illegal to require proof that an animal is actually a service animal? That is ridiculous, IMHO. And what if her service dog had been a Great Dane or St. Bernard? Besides on infringing on the comfort of others, there does reach a point when safety would be an issue...this dog stuck out into the aisle for most of the trip.
Any thoughts? How about from some of you who actually have service animals (and any who might pretend that their animal is a service animal)? I know some of you are going to flame me for being "insensitive" to people with disabilities, but I really am trying to start a legitimate discussion.