Originally Posted by
ATOBTTR
Yep. The solution is to crack-down on ESAs and create specific rules and guidelines for training and certification - more strict than what is required now where one can buy a certificate online and an animal who requires no training whatsoever. I’ve traveled with a pet in the cabin before. I paid $150 each way or whatever the fee was. And we had to follow very specific rules in the terminal and onboard the aircraft. Our pet had to be in a pet carrier at all times, etc. Then again maybe I’m the stupid one and I maybe I should have paid as little as $25 and gotten some therapist to sign off on an ESA certificate instead....
But no, I followed the rules and so I’m perfectly fine with Emotional Support Animals being cracked down on. It may be a pipe-dream for it to ever happen especially with the way society is going but I would not be the least bit upset if regulations were changed and what constitutes an ESA and what actual training an ESA should have to be required to go through to be able to be an ESA.
How do you test an ESA that is supposed to help with anxiety? What about one that is supposed to help with depression? Do you find a stranger suffering from anxiety and see if the animal helps them? Or a person suffering with depression? Oftentimes, the bond between the animal and the human is part of what helps and you cannot test that with a stranger. Likewise, what works for one person with anxiety or depression may not work for another. It is relatively easy to test service dogs, because they have been trained to perform a specific skill. It isn't quite as easy with an ESA.