ESpen36

I've heard them called "Emotional Support Animals." I was once on HNL-DFW with a very badly-behaved poodle wearing a brand-new service dog vest. The woman spent the whole flight trying to get the dog to sit down and behave. She was in the bulkhead row of First Class. Frankly, it probably stressed her out MORE to have the dog there! (I'm guessing she didn't want her poopsie down in the hold for 7.5 hours on the transpacific flight, so she paid some doctor to write a medical order to have the dog.)


By contrast, I've been on several flights with REAL service animals, and they are incredibly well behaved. They sit at their owners' feet and don't make a sound the entire flight. Much better behaved than most humans on board!

aisleorwindow

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send a letter to UA with flight and seat numbers about these jerkoffs. Hopefully UA will charge them, or better yet ban them from United for life.

The whole conecpt of "emotional support animals" is a crock, in my opinion.

I'll put my flame suit on now....

goalie

stand behind me my suds bud as i've got my goalie gear on and it's flame retardant . afaic, these folks (f/t tos prevents my real comments) pulled the ultimate dykwia and got away with it (and lord knows have probably been getting away with it for years). i see nothing wrong with informing ua and letting them handle it (and would love to see a "dear jerkoff" letter saying something to the affect of "it has come to our attention......please find enclosed a bill for $xxx.xx.....") <grrrrrrr>

B747-437B

Our airline (which does not operate to/from the USA) will only accept service animals which carry certification papers from an accredited Service Animal organisation.

Once this paperwork is provided however, a second seat (window seat) is automatically blocked at no additional charge for the service animal and the accompanying adult is accomodated in the adjacent middle seat. This is to provide sufficient space for the service animal during the flight.

No more than 2 service animals will be accomodated on any flight and if 2 are carried, they must be placed in the forwardmost unrestricted row and the rearmost unrestricted row, and on opposite aisles of the aircraft. Advance reservations must also be made.

Never had a complaint yet.

N965VJ

At least it was a poodle, not a potbellied pig.

pinniped

I thought the airlines had completely stopped carrying animals in the service hold during summer months because some had overheated and died in the past.

I also thought I had heard that two-dog limit rule somewhere else too...

I have mixed opinions about the whole situation. I've never personally experienced the need for an "emotional support animal". I'd hate to see people exploit the concept, bringing badly-behaved dogs into all sorts of places difficult for untrained dogs, to the point where people with a legitimate trained guide dog start to feel the backlash and limitations as to where they can go with the animal.

Athena53

PC gone amok again. If I were in the unfortunate position of having to travel with a legitimate service animal, I'd consider that question an opportunity to educate a fellow passenger. And I agree with the earlier observation about true service animals- they're generally very well-trained. The two I've seen in flight in my travels barely moved and never made a sound.

kkjay77

I second this.
Proper service animals are very well trained and well behaved onboard.
Emotional support animals, on the other hand, requires no special training service animals go through.
This is the reason why I very firmly believe that emotional support animals should be excluded unless they go through the same training as the regular service dogs.
Well... if one had a goldfish as their emotional support animal, then I would be OK with no training.

sfo

I have seen quite a few potbellied pigs on flights over the years

expatinglasgow

There are standards for service animals. I am sure a google search will say as much. The standards are quite rigorous, in fact. The majority of animals that go through the initial obedience training don't make the cut (aside: if you train one of said 'failures,' you get first dibs on adoption!).

Big to people who would abuse a legitimate need for such purposes as described by OP.

For those who doubt the validity of an emotional support animal, take a trip on an oncology/pediatrics floor in any number of hospitals. The dogs help. But they are extremely well trained.

PATRLR

I doubt it. Assuming the story is true (and I believe it is), these people are obnoxious jerks, so, reasonableness does not apply. The reason they would admit to someone what they did is that they are proud of their actions and they know they've got the Dr.'s note and that pretty much trumps everything.

To those that say to write to UA - I agree. But I'm pretty sure UA can't and won't do much of anything for the same reason - they had a Dr.'s note and that trumps everything.

I like the concept mentioned elsewhere that only dogs trained by an approved and recognized agency are accepted. Seems like a simple fix. (but maybe the ADA makes is a not so simple fix).

Oxb

I would like to see TSA deal with the emotional support fish in its natural environment.

soitgoes

Emotional Support Animals have been discussed at great length on FT
One thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...g-me-rant.html

In response to some of the issues, the DOT revised its disability rules somewhat in May:
http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm

N965VJ

Tell the screener this is an orthopedic shoe and watch their head explode:

cepheid

At least on UA, only certain short-nosed dog breeds are disallowed in the hold during summer months. On abnormally hot days, it's possible the ground crew may refuse all animals, but a flat-out ban is in place only for certain breeds of dogs.

There is a limit to the number of in-cabin pets; I have not heard of any limitation on the number of service animals and/or cargo animals, although that doesn't mean no such limit exists.