tuolumne

Last year I walked onboard a 3-class 767, and as soon as I walked into the business cabin, with my eyes looking up at the bins, I tripped over a large Labrador, who's owner was seated in the middle business bulkhead. In this case, it looked like a real service animal, but the fact that the dog was laying down in the aisle during general boarding was a ?? moment.

I sat in forward facing 7J, and the dog was lovely for the entire flight. The big guy just laid down and slept, this time in front of the seat, for the duration of the flight.

I've seen animals on transcon and itl. flights before, but always in a kennel. This dog was large. No bathroom breaks, but I didn't think about it. Now that I am, I'd rather have the dog go in the lavatory v the kennel/floor. As to the inside the lavatory logistics, your guess is as good as mine

JVPhoto

Hey! I'll take whatever I can get out of MRY and if that means our Thurs & Sun MRY-LAS flights then sign me up.
I tried finding the IG page but it was on a story of someone else who knew the owner/pet and it's gone now. But I went to type in "therapydog" on IG and you get a bevy of them!

Also re: UA and the bulk head rule this pup was at the feet of the two owners at the bulkhead on the MD-80. The poor thing looked more nervous than anything else.

Much like a 3 year old throwing a fit and being a 3 year old I can't fault the child but I can still get pissed at the parents. Same with the animals and even more so, they have no control over their owners gaming the system.

I am getting a boxer puppy and that means I have to wait until after the 1st of the year when I will have a good 3 months with it at home.

I have ZERO desire to travel with my dog when it is bigger. If I am going to NY for 5 days why do I need to bring my damn dog? I don't want to have to find a hotel that'll take pets or go down and walk it and pick up it's turds on the street.

However, IF....IF I was one to travel with a dog in the cabin I would probably have PuppyPads on me and put one down in the floor of the lav if I felt the the dog had the need to go or prevent any potential accident on the floor.

What I think is worse than potential dog poo that can be scooped up off the floor are the parents who change their baby's diaper on the seats...

eng3

I see, so someone who pays cannot have the pet in the bulkhead or emergency exit row, but someone who does not can sit anywhere and block egress. I guess in my case, it was a "service" animal.

bocastephen

It's the same look on my face every time I come out of an aircraft lav - in truth, the dog would probably be the cleaner visitor of the two.

LarryJ

The airlines set the rules for pet transport. They can even choose not to carry pets in the cabin or in the cargo hold as Southwest did for many years. Generally, they are; in a carrier, under the seat, and a limited number per flight.

The rules for service animals are set by the government.

If you have issues with how an airline handles pets, I'd recommend you contact the airline. If the problem is serious enough, a DOT complaint can be filed.

If you have issues with the procedures for service animals then your only option is to contact the Department of Transportation and your representatives. They are the only ones that can affect change.

I think it's clear that the service animal provisions are being abused by some; though I have no way of judging any individual case. That is something that can only be addressed by the DOT and/or Congress.

kimikoftokyo

I travel with my 🐱 cat. Though I'm a carrier I don't feed her after midnight a little water that's it. Until we are at or destination. I know cats are different kind of but let's think about it this way was this dog relived before getting on the plane! That patent caused their own issues. I feel they should have flights with a vast majority of them being pets which is very much possible. As for as the situation that sounds scary. They are going up on everything else and making seats 💺 smaller so why not make a station that owners can go take their pet. Like a grassed area and a disposable area. Charge more so it can be approved healthwise. There's no way the food they sell up there is approved lol so why not include this ? It will take planning and regularly cleaned periods through out different flights but worth it. In all most things on a plane is not clean and should be inspected

Low Roller

I'm not sure if this symbol is universal, but here's the sign on the LAS doggie bathroom (it apparently even has fake grass and fire hydrants). I'm not a dog person, so I found this all rather strange.

skymaster

Flyer talk members excepted, most people don't know the difference between a true SERVICE animal (that need not be a dog), and eithert a SUPPORT animal, or the far more frequent FAKE SUPPORT animal actually the pet of a deceitful owner. It is highly improbable that a service animal would need to poop during a flight, and it is highly probable that the owner of a service animal would have assured that its needs would have been fully attended to before the flight.

On the other hand, those who try to pass off their pets as "support" animals and who have purchased phony vests and documentation online, haven't the slightest idea as to how their pets are expected to behave. These people commit daily fraud, and the airlines need to step up enforcement of their pet policies.

I am not anti-dog. I own two Aussies. This is more an issue about people than about dogs, and as another example, two weeks ago in the waiting area a very well dressed dog owner encouraged her large "support" vested pet to sit on the seat next to her. I asked her to return the dog to the floor, at which time another passenger said loudly, "That's a service dog". I advised owner and passenger that it clearly was not, and that a true service dog would never come up on to a seat in the first place.

MitchR

In the last year I've experienced the following. Had to give up my aisle seat in first class (full fare JFK -DFW leg of a trip to HKG) because a passenger had a companion animal in a bulkhead seat. Had an employee flying on a pass push me aside in TSA Pre with her toy poodle companion animal. In the LAX Admirals Club I returned from the bathroom to find that another passenger's companion dog had knocked my soup off of the table and was eating it. She went off on me for leaving it unattended. After the last incident I wrote American about animals roaming the airport and Admirals Club unleashed. Got a snotty reply from American accusing me of being some kind of animal hater. The letter mentioned the rules regarding Service Animals and the letter writer said that I should be more accomadating of people who need them. I wrote back that this wasn't a Service Animal, but rather someone's pet that was wondering free, not on a flight, but in the Admiral's Club. I addressed the letter to a supervisor, I got an email response a week later from the original person telling me that the "case was closed" and "there will be no compensation." I never asked for compensation, just for the airline to use some common sense.

MSPeconomist

Maybe you should report this to the health department? I doubt that dogs are allowed to roam free in food service establishments. If the dog was unrestrained, then there was nothing preventing it from roaming around the buffet line, which is a food service area.

scottsam66

Get over yourselves!
"ain't nuttin' wrong,w/ a little poop n pee" R Poopy

Spec1alk

Skipped the last 4 pages of this thread, but there is an easy solution. Change the guidelines for what constitutes an ESA. I don't dispute that there is benefit to the health of ESA owners. I am happy that they are able to improve their quality of life. However, if you want to bring an ESA on-board an airplane, it should be required to meet the same training requirements of a Service Animal.

This would prevent the flagrant abuse of the ESA provision by those with untrained animals.

I am not a professional, but I would be interested to know if the training for a SA includes greater control over their bodily function? I assume it does, but I don't know.

In reply to all of those on this thread who keep making the point "animals have to go to the bathroom too!", YES, we know. And while this thread was started over a pax taking their animal to the restroom, I think the thread is really about the BRAZEN ABUSE of the ESA provision by pax.

To the suggestion of making an animal relief restroom, I think that is extremely doubtful due to the space it would require. It is more likely that existing restrooms will be adjusted so-as to be pet-friendly.

see2xu

We've seriously been considering designating our two as Service Animals (not at all hard) and buying them seats when we travel between our homes. Our reluctance to act has been entirely out of concerns about the perception of other PAX. They're mature adults, well trained and thoroughly socialized.

Also looked a private plane time-sharing services, which seems to me to be a better choice. A bit more expensive, but does away with the hassles of getting in and out of terminals.

In the past, we've had our dogs on private planes, and bathroom relief isn't an issue. As well trained as they are, no way anyone could expect to train them to use human facilities for their bio breaks. We've done 3-4 hour legs, and just constrain their intake of both food and water starting an hour or two before flight time.

I suspect this concern is overblown. Most likely the lav user didn't want to leave the dog unattended at their seat. When their master/mistress leaves them, particularly in unfamiliar and stressful circumstances, they are likely to act out.

Collierkr

Likely you are correct on the reason the animal went in the lav with pax, but a true service animal would not act out if left behind briefly.

WineCountryUA

Topic Reminder

The thread has wandered into the Service animal / emotional support animal / just regular pets discussion -- always a topic of interest BUT it is not a UA topic. As has been repeatedly mentioned the individual airlines have been preempted by USA federal government rules / guidelines.

Let's return to the thread topic about if UA does / should have policies about any traveling animals using the aircraft restrooms.

For others, may I suggest the following Travel Buzz threads
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-airlines.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...vice-dogs.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ief-areas.html

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator