blondietink

Whatever happened to bringing a teddy bear or other stuffed animal with you? My son still likes to bring his when we fly/travel as it makes him feel safe. Perhaps the people who need emotional support animals needs to change to the stuffed kind. I also worry about people who are allergic to animal dander when these animals board a flight. Who has more rights?

PAX62

Not at all. "Bitten" implies aggression with intent to harm. Dogs use their mouths like young humans use their hands to grab onto things. It is a natural instinct and bite inhibition needs to be trained in dogs from puppyhood. Too many people get wound up in a tizzy that any contact with dog teeth means they are an aggressive dangerous attack dog which is total lack of understanding. Ever watch dogs play wrestle? They are VERY mouthy with each other and with ANY excited physical contact, humans or otherwise, inadvertent unwanted contact is inevitable. If the passenger was "bitten" out of aggression, different story but even this article suggest otherwise.

Perfect example was while horsing around with my 10 week old puppy his razor teeth caught my ear resulting a a few stitches. Nurse wanted to do a dog bite report on the dog for animal control....of course I utterly refused, but hey it was a "bite", right?

I see children all the time approach dogs making physical contact and the dog gets a bit more excited than the kid is expecting freaking them out then all the sudden the dog is the one somehow in the wrong. Kids need to be taught boundaries with unfamiliar animals.

Now, if it is a CERTIFIED service animal...that should not be a concern in a public setting but it is a reality with any random animal.

beachmouse

It's not my responsibility to make sure that your pet doesn't bite me. It's 100% your responsibility to train your pet not to react to odd situations, and if they can't do that, that pet should not be out in public. I am so sick of getting lunged as by poorly trained dogs because I dared to go for a run on a public sidewalk.

DCP2016

What's funny is that I get lunged at by homeless "people". Apparently they have a right to my money and any property on me.

lougord99

Did that comment have anything to do with anything in this thread?

DCP2016

Of course, sometimes "humans" act worse than animals.

Mickidon

I have a running disagreement with a family member regarding her "emotional support" labradoodle. She is very honest that she has ESA papers to save money
on airline fees and/or pet sitting and says that the additional documentation needed for DL was easy to obtain - an MD friend was happy to oblige. My gut is that
​​​​​​​people will end up figuring out ways around these changes and we will be back where we started.

sigma6

HUH? I just did LAX-OAK. I had to wait a few hrs because I was early. There were 6 boardings before me and all of them had announcement for pre-boarding 2 adults and children 6yrs old and UNDER.

ursine1

The official policy is an adult and a child age 6 and under.

What happens in practice more often than not does not match official policy.

pinniped

Southwest seems to have gotten better about the family boarding. I always hear the 6-and-under announced, usually with some sort of announcement that you can't bring an entourage with you. Whether it's one parent or two isn't really the issue...it's the cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and emotional support zoo for all of the above that are the problem.

Insulator-King

Like I'd want to do THAT!

dlaue

Wednesday night in front of Gate 11A at LAX a bulldog left a 25 foot long trail of walking poop. The gate agent called for a special clean-up. It was ~10 minutes before there was a crew responding. In the meantime, the foul smelling substance had been tracked and roller-bagged into the adjacent food vendor, Einstein Bros. Bagels. I gag when I think of the poor souls whose luggage was dragged into the mess.

Animals do not belong in this area. Nor in food markets, in my opinion.

joshua362

Call the lawyer in the other thread!
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29497134-post1.html
They're supposed to be housebroken according to his treatise. Perhaps he can initiate a suit and make money off of it!

geo979

Indeed. A few lawsuits related to pet issues will perhaps get airlines to rethink lax pet policies.

kb9522

Jesus, the mental gymnastics are Olympic worthy. Unbelievable.