I beg to differ. Nothing wrong with fowl on the plane, as long as it has been shot beforehand, gently roasted and is served "au jus". Perhaps with a nice Chianti ph ph ph ph

Am I the only FTer who's allergic to pets? I don't care about the noise or smell. I do have a problem breathing around dogs and cats, and minor problem with itchy eyes, hives and general irritation.

If they can remove peanut butter from school cafeterias because one student has peanut allergies, why can't dogs and cats be relegated to the baggage hold? After all, they're animals, not people. (donning flameproof armor).

Thank God horses can't fly in the passenger cabin.

I have to agree with this. I have a minor allergy to cats, but it would seriously affect me to be travelling next to one for a long haul flight.

Dogs and other animals are banned from restaurants in many parts of the world. Why should a flight be different?

But don't you have medication you can take to alleviate the allergic reactions? You never know when you might be near dogs or cats especially when outside.

I guess the question remains whether passengers have a right to fly allergy-free. How would you go about doing that?

and some people gripe about kids in FC.....

Cuddles begs to differ.

See also this thread.

Thats awesome!

You can't really put animals in the hold, what if their box burst open and in the dark they savaged everything else in the hold from fear e.g. your nice samsonite soft skinned bag.

To expand on what Analise said, many people have allergies to many different things. I, for one, am allergic to some perfumes and colognes (I am also allergic to cats). If my seatmate is wearing too much of it, I have to ask the FA to find another seat for me (otherwise I will suffer asthma attacks and itchy swollen eyes, etc.). Do I find this annoying? Yes. But I think lots of things are annoying about commercial travel.

It is commercial travel. There are many things (children, flight attendants, seatmates, loud talkers, cell phones, pets, ad nauseum) that you will find annoying or with which you will have some other problem like an allergic reaction.

The issue is more complex than that. An aircraft cabin is an enclosed space with limited air flow and you may not have a choice as to seating. Also the allergens from a cat or dog will persist after the original flight. Certainly the current airline cleaning regimes are unlikely to shift them.

Good point. I do have medication, but I don't like the way it makes me feel so I don't take it unless I know I will encounter a pet indoors - like at a friends house. I don't take it to go to work, I don't need it if I'm outdoors, just confined spaces with pets in them. I don't run into pets on airplanes much but I know if they're there even if I don't see them.

Holy Cr@p! OK, that smell would get to me.

Hmm, my read of the mess was not that the dog made a mess. Rather, there was an odor (aka "flatulence") that the girl blamed on the dog. Then the girl, not the dog, went into the restroom for 15 minutes.

Not an uncommon occurrence to falsely blame the dog in these instances.

That said, I am looking forward to the day when the airlines have a way for owners and dogs to ride together on a plane, be it in a separate cabin or elsewhere. Then I will actually begin to take my dogs on trips.

Was it a "fowl" odor because the passenger ate chicken for dinner?

Despite popular belief about aircraft having limited airflow (and the corresponding myth that airlines limit fresh air to reduce fuel consumption), the cabin air on modern aircraft is completely changed about as often as in modern office buildings. There have been several threads on FT in the past few years where the data have been presented.

That said, I can sympathise with you and your allergies. I share some mild allergies to cats (never noticed any reaction to dogs, but maybe I just don't realize it). And you are correct, the allergens will probably persist even after the animal has disembarked.

But here's my difficulty with this issue: Disabled people will be able to fly with their service animals whether you like it or not. I have even sat next to individuals and their guide dogs. And, presumably, your allergic reactions are the same to the service animals as to the pets. Since you can't prevent the service animals from flying, why attempt to restrict passengers from bringing pets? You'll itch and sneeze and respond the same no matter the relationship of the animal to their owner (pet or service animal).

Analogies to the peanut allergy appear misplaced to me - I have never known of any pet allergies to be as potentially fatal as allergies to nuts, but I certainly don't know everything.

I'm not happy sitting next to smokers, nor people wearing excessive amounts of perfume/cologne, etc. I would prefer that people on the Continent generally be as meticulous about bathing and body smell as Americans generally are. All have the potential to make me feel ill.

But as others have pointed out, offensive smells are everywhere, even on airplanes.

Many people (myself included) are allergic to cats and not dogs. These people are not allergic to the dander, but rather to an enzyme in cats' saliva that gets on their fur due to cats' self-grooming/licking. If you find your skin getting red if a cat starts licking you this is a telltale sign.

I know OT but FYI...