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  • Del -From This Angle

Man Bites Dog

4/22/2018

6 Comments

 
I know I am going to get lambasted for this blog but let me try and defend myself anyway. My wife and I own dogs, rescue dogs. We love them and they love us and love that they have been rescued. At least I imagine they do. We will probably always own dogs so we understand people who LOVE their dogs.
But a couple of things came to my attention this week that causes me to comment. We own a store and we allow dogs to come in with their owners IF they are not wetters and they are calm and friendly. Otherwise I’ll toss them out.
The other day I was in a local bakery and a gentleman ahead of me had a dog with a “Support Animal” vest on. This means nothing except that he paid some support organization $50-$200 for a vest to pretend he had a certified reason to bring the dog into an eating establishment. He doesn’t. According to the ESA doctors website, a vest or a card saying your animal is an emotional support animal translates to a right to take your pet anywhere, think again. That card merely says that your pet has been registered in some database of pet owners who have the money to pay to an organization, or organizations as the case may be, which has no official government recognition. Emotional support animal certificates do not entitle their holders to bring in their pets to stores, hotels, trains, restaurants, taxi cabs, buses, and parks. Unlike service dogs, which are legally allowed to be with their owners anywhere the handler is present, ESA dogs and cats are classified by the federal government as untrained companions and are limited access to certain locations.
Now with the dog I was speaking about it had its tail between its legs and a wide-eyed look that indicated anything other than a desire to be in that bakery. What kind of emotional support was that? Right now if you get on a plane and are allergic to dogs or cats or whatever and the person next has a “support” animal you have to deal with it. Sniffle and cought for the rest of the flight because Fluffy comes first.
As reported in today’s Los Angeles Times by Hugo Martin starting May 1, Alaska Airlines will require passengers who want to travel with emotional support animals to provide proof that the animal is healthy, well-behaved and is needed to support the flier during the flight. The change comes only months after Delta and United Airlines both adopted similar requirements, which took effect March 1.
That proof comes in a couple of ways – It requires that passengers flying with emotional support animals provide a letter from a mental health professional or medical doctor, affirming that the flier needs the animal for support.
Starting May 1, passengers must also print and fill out two additional forms from alaskair.com. In one form, the passenger affirms that the animal is well-trained and that the passenger accepts liability for any injury or damage caused by the animal. Another form certifies that the animal is healthy. All three documents must be submitted 48 hours before flying.
Delta and Alaska both have cited a recent surge in incidents involving animals on planes. Delta said it adopted the new policy in response to an 84% increase in animal incidents since 2016, including animals urinating, defecating, biting, barking and lunging on planes. A Delta passenger was mauled by a 50-pound dog on a flight from Atlanta to San Diego last year.
Alaska carries about 150 emotional support and service animals daily and has been noting problems almost weekly.
I understand people need support…some people.
You may qualify for an emotional support dog if you have emotional or mental illnesses. If you suffer from one or more of the mental illnesses listed below, you may qualify for an emotional support dog.
  • – Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
  • – Learning Disorders
  • – Autism
  • – General Anxiety Disorder
  • – Gender Identity
  • – Bipolar
  • – Cognitive disorders
  • – Depression
  • – Severe anxiety
  • – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
If you suffer from anxiety, depression, or any of the illnesses listed above, you may be interested in having an official Emotional Support Animal.
But the law needs to clarify and make people get some sort of certification if indeed they really need support as opposed to “I just don’t like to leave fluffy alone at home and I’m too cheap to board her or get a dog sitter.” The law needs to be for people on both sides of the equation.
 
As always I look forward to your comments
 
Picture
6 Comments
Shannon R.
4/23/2018 01:39:18 am

Hey I love dogs more than most people. But because I love dogs so much it pisses me off to no end when people do this. If your animal has not gone through proper training and exposure then putting these stupid vest on your animals and Hauling them around everywhere into these highly stressful situations is just abusing the animal. It's selfish and narcissistic behavior. We are allowed to bring our dogs to work, but in the five years I've had my dog I've brought him less than 10 times, and only on days when I know I'll only be there for a few hours. Because it's too stressful on him. But I also don't want to disrupt the people working around me because my dog gets too over-excited. Hell, many times I've even thought about coming by your shop with my dog so that you can meet him. But I never have because I respect you and your workplace enough to not subject you to his excessive drool and hair that is very apparent when he gets nervous. I think the people that lie and get these fake vests are just pieces of shit. Also, I was reading up about this recently and for people that claim their animal is on a registry, there actually is no registry for an emotional support dog. So people that are paying for that and thinking they are getting that are just getting ripped off. There is legit no registry. And when it comes to planes if the animal is not small enough that it can be crated and put under the seat in front of you, if it is not a 100% certified service animal, I don't think they should be allowed on an airplane. There's other ways to travel. Like by train. The animal shouldn't be subjected to that when it's not been trained for that high-stress situation and the people that are paying out their ass to fly us airplanes shouldn't have to cater to these lying assholes. So I'm right there with you

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Lynda Williams link
4/23/2018 11:26:42 am

Del, you hit the nail right on the head. I know many people don’t want to hear this, but it needs to be said. Thanks!

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Monica G.
5/17/2018 11:39:50 pm

Well said! I was at toys r us in crutches, and a support dog was running in front of me, with its long leash blocking the aisle. I had asked the lady politely to control her dog. She looked at me with a disgusted look at her face and just called her dog. The dog didn't listen and continued to run around the aisle. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I grew up with family always having a dog. But why should I be reinjured because this lady could not control her "support" animal? A service dog is always well behaved, never leaves the owners side, and is very obidient. I filed a complaint with Toys R Us, and all they said was, "we approached her and she said that it was a service dog." That dog did not have a vest and definitely did not behave like a service dog.

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Bart Lanton
7/28/2019 08:23:35 pm

I have both dogs and cats, and I love them - but I leave them at home, because it's selfish and inconsiderate to inflict them on other people. When did people start thinking these animals are children? They're not, and the laws need to change to reflect that. There is NO room for dogs in restaurants, shops, or airplanes. And anyone who doesn't get that is too dumb to own a pet.

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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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