Flying Buses and Emotional Support Animals

9/16/2018

If you have been a semi-regular reader of my blog you know that one of my pet peeves (sorry) is people who misuse the support animal laws to obtain free flights for their pets (who cause problems) or turn a blind eye to the myriad of problems their deceit causes. Now federal Law says that people who have support animals must be allowed to bring them on board of the airplanes free of charge. Of course anybody can claim their pet is a support animal and get around having to purchase a ticket. My feeling is and always has been if you have a federal law about Support animals then you need rules and regulations as to what a Support animal is. What do you need to prove to get a permit or license?
Currently you need nothing except the ability to bat your eyes and line to the airlines about how much you need this animal for emotional support because you hate to fly. Then take a train, take a bus, drive. But don't take the seat next to me. Sara Nelson, President of the Assn. of Flight Attendants said, "The rampant abuse of claiming a need for emotional support animals in air travel is negatively impacting all passengers." Did you catch her wording? RAMPANT ABUSE.
A survey of flight attendants came out last week and according to the Los Angeles Times these were part of the findings:
82% of flight attendants strongly believe a consistent policy throughout the airline industry is needed.
62% of flight attendants reported working a flight during which an emotional support animal causes a disruption in the cabin.
53% of the disruptions included aggressive or threatening behavior by the animal, including snapping at flight attendants.
43% of the disruptions include animals failing to fit under a seat or on the lap of a passenger, roaming the cabin or barking throughout the flight.
26% of the disruptions included emotional support animals defecating or urinating in the cabin.
13% of the disruptions included conflicts between passengers caused by the presence or behavior of an emotional support animal.
This must stop. Demand it from your government and airlines and if they don't listen stop f;lying with that particular airline. They only place you can hurt them is in the pocket book. Follow the money.
As usual I look forward to hearing your comments and experiences.

Melissa

9/19/2018 10:06:35 pm

Personally I feel like it's animal abuse. A trained service dog knows how to behave in public. A support animal can become stressed - so basically these people are putting their needs over an innocent animal. Not to mention I don't know how your dog can be "calming" if it's agitated and barking at everything. Wouldn't that make your stress worse? About a year ago I was at Epcot and twice in 1 day I passed this woman with 2 small dogs that were barking like crazy at everyone that walked by (and don't get me started on the fact she was unnecessarily using an electric scooter). And their pitch made it sound like they got hold of an animal - it was that ferocious. The 2nd time I overheard people say "God, this woman again?" So I wasn't the only one who kept encountering her - she was pissing everyone off. I agree with you - better rules need to be put into place.

10/10/2018 03:36:25 pm

Thought of you Del!
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qv9nw3/woman-brings-emotional-support-squirrel-on-plane-evacuated-florida-frontier-vgtrn

Maureen Juarez

1/25/2019 01:00:17 am

This is an excellent post! For as long as I can remember this has been a huge issue, bringing animals on planes. Until about 15 years ago they were only allowed sedated and caged in a section of the storage unit in the belly of the plane.
I think if you Must have your dog, it must have it's identifying work vest, the one that states it is not a pet, it is a support animal. To date only dogs have these vests And get training to assist the human they help. Some are trained to notice an epilepsy seizure coming on, some are trained for diabetics, some are emotional support. ALL properly trained dogs have a vest to identify them. Make it necessary for the dog to wear it's vest in transit so it can do it's job and get help if needed. This way the 'free' ticket can be justified because the dog is proving it is working, not a pet. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Flying Buses and Emotional Support Animals

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Del Howison is an award-winning editor, author and journalist. Along with his wife, Sue, they are co-owners of Dark Delicacies which has served the Horror community for a quarter of a century.

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