Originally Posted by
jdrtravel
My thought is that despite the nonstop complaining about this on FlyerTalk, I have never, in all my years of flying, --not once--seen an actual problem caused by an animal on board a flight. I know there have been some headline makers. But really, I think it's mostly nosy people who get grumpy and make judgements about things that are actually just not a problem.
Animals onboard are, and continue to be, real problems in many cases. My most recent example was a very, very large dog licking my arm and barking loudly from the seat directly behind me on a tiny AA regional jet last Christmas. It had to exceed whatever size restrictions AA has in place, and it was so large it spilled into the aisle impeding emergency egress. The F/As were too afraid to intervene in the situation and I ended up forced to relocate to a different row with less legroom to escape the situation.
As someone who was attacked by a dog as a child and who still bears scars from the experience, I have a deeply ingrained fear of dogs, and being seated near one that is unrestrained on a flight is a really traumatic experience. If emotional support animals are permitted onboard without proper restraints, there needs to equally be a process for registering a medical need for an emotional support not-animal, IMHO.