Airline passengers for years have faced a choice when traveling with pets.
- Pay a pet in cabin fee for small dog or cat. And on top of the fee, the pet goes underneath the seat in front of you, and counts as your full-sized carry-on bag. You can only bring an additional personal item.
- Or just pretend to have an emotional support animal. It’s free. You can still bring your carry-on bag. It can even be a horse, and it doesn’t have to stay in a bag underneath your seat.
Before the pandemic, the FAA worked with airlines on new regulations that helped them crack down on the Noah’s Ark approach to domestic pet travel. Ostensibly passengers are now limited to real service animals. In practice, though, you just have to fill out paperwork in advance and say you have a service animal.
That step alone cracks down on some of the abuse. People who were bringing turkeys onto planes aren’t also the people who tend to file paperwork in advance. However there’s still a disconnect.
So here are some standards you can use to tell if the animal a passenger is bringing on board is a real service animal – or if the passenger is just circumventing the rules.
- They’re being fed treats, and not just meals
- Their owner speaks to them in baby talk
- The animals rest on pillows
- And there are two animals per passenger
- If the animal is part of a photo shoot in the aircraft window
Service animals aren’t ‘pets for someone with emotional challenges’ they are trained working animals. If any of these five items are present in the cabin, then you aren’t looking at a real service dog.
Man service animals are your new fetish. I agree with numbers 2-5 however most responsible owners of service animals keep small treat and periodically give them to the dog. It reinforces behavior as well as rewarding them for a job well done
I have service bacteria. They ride in my mouth. Nobody has questioned me so far – wish me luck
We were volunteer puppy raisers for a service dog organization for 20 years. The people who truly need these animals are harmed when people use fake service animals to avoid paying fees. I agree with most of what you say here, but especially on a long flight, we would give them a treat. It’s very rare for a service dog to misbehave, but it does happen. Fake service animals are usually pretty easy to spot. I think we need more regulations on this. Right now, there are no certification requirements.
@AC correct. Owners of service animals always carry treats and never provide a meal prior to travel to avoid accidents. You’re also correct that Gary is really focusing on service animals lately but lacks thorough knowledge to even pretend he’s an expert.
@Gary Leff, PLEASE STOP!
I have a service dog. I’ve never flown with her, but I give her an occasional treat and I talk baby talk to her. She responds better to baby talk and was trained by someone who believes baby talk is more engaging when training and working with a dog.
Your list doesn’t exclude emotional support animals.
Your list doesn’t exclude alert dogs. Alert dogs might very well just be a family pet that showed sensitivity to whatever they are supposed to alert to and were simply trained to react in a clear fashion.
Agree with Gary!
Your comment (copied and pasted) below shows that you don’t understand the rules. The first option is only available for (very) small dogs that comfortably fit into a carrier that is small enough to go under the seat in front of you. The option for medium/large dogs is to fly in the cargo hold.
And if you fly out of i.e. Phoenix this is not always a good idea (no AC with triple digit temps) and some airlines won’t fly a pet in cargo for that reason.
Airline passengers for years have faced a choice when traveling with pets.
– Pay a pet in cabin fee for small dog or cat. And on top of the fee, the pet goes underneath the seat in front of you, and counts as your full-sized carry-on bag. You can only bring an additional personal item.
– Or just pretend to have an emotional support animal. It’s free. You can still bring your carry-on bag. It can even be a horse, and it doesn’t have to stay in a bag underneath your seat.
Those animals should be charged extra. If a person has dementia and has a support animal (species: human, compensation: home health aide wages), that support animal has to pay for a seat. Why discriminate against humans but not other species? HUMANS FIRST!
The federal government and ADA laws are crappy. If there is a desire for accommodation, then there should be a strictly narrow group of allowable animals, such as seeing eye dogs only.
Why are children charged extra as unaccompanied minors? You could argue that the airline minder needs to be paid so there is a UM fee. Same should be for animals.
Knowing they are phony and their owner’s despicable is pointless since there isn’t a thing we can do about it.
99% of the commercial passenger flights, if your flight is powered by jet engines, the boarding “service” animal is fake. The remaining 1%, I hope you have an ADA experienced lawyer on speed dial.
Best wishes and good luck in restoring the Golden Age of Air Travel!
Also its cheaper than boarding your pets while you are away
Another point that is often missed in these discussions is the weight issue. Almost all airlines limit the weight of in-cabin pets to 20-30 pounds. Since most airlines won’t accept pets in cargo any longer for humane reasons, the only way to transport a larger dog on a plane is if it is a “service animal.” I suspect that there is a certain percentage of folks who would gladly pay the fee to have Fluffy or Fido with them if permitted but with the current regs, they see no choice but to lie about the status of their animal.
I’m not defending the practice, but rather explaining it from the perspective of someone married to an animal lover with an adorable 40 pound husky
You really only need one standard: a real service dog should ignore strangers. A service dog should not sniff or lick strangers.
Fake service animals traveling on planes are not the problem on airlines these days.
The real problem is fake travelers traveling on planes these days. These are the inexperienced, useless hoi polloi who travel for inane reasons and gum up the works for travelers who actually have reasons to go somewhere. The Karens heading to a 4 day Celebrity Bahamas Wayne Newton Cruise with 2 checked bags and 3 carryons, a neck pillow, fluffy slippers and headphones. The pod of 8 Kenishas wrapped in walmart spandex heading to Miami Beach over Labor Day weekend to escape her government job at the County Civic complex processing tax liens. The family of Beavertons heading to WDC to blow the entire years salary eating caramel corn with Mickey. The surley daughter still in her pyjamas and slippers and the obliviouis slackjaw son in sliders ignoring their parents and putting their knees on the seat in front of them.
Oh no. Ask just about any flight attendant if they’d rather have people or dogs on their planes and we all know what answer you’ll get.
Stop pretending that dogs on planes aren’t a pleasant diversion from the hoards of yokels filling up planes who should be in the Greyhound bus or on a roadtrip in the family station wagon instead. Stuckeys waits….
It is time for a national registry of licensed service animals. If your animal, regardless of type, is registered then it flies – if not then it does not. The licensing needs to be more than just send in a misspelled note written with a crayon. There must be medical documentation of the person’s need and records of the animal’s training. Someone found to have faked a license can join the no-fly list. I want those who have the need to be able to fly without restriction, but the airborne zoo has to end
@derek – Do a little research and quit sounding ignorant. The federal government (under ADA and other acts) specifically allows service animals on planes. Also for the person that states that only “seeing eye dogs” should go, again do some research. Most service dogs are medical or alert trained and not a guide dog or to help with stability. Most conditions that require a service dog are not obvious. Not to go into too much detail but my daughter has had 2 service dogs (first one unfortunately died young). She has a history of migraines and other medical conditions (like 10-15 pills a day in mid 20s) and the dog is specially trained to alert if she is having an episode and also assist by retrieving items or going for help.
I agree that many game the system but please people (Gary included) don’t assume the dog isn’t a service animal. Some on here seem to think every dog on a plane is a scam and that simply isn’t the case.
Agree with Gary 1000%. Do not stop posting about this disgrace in the air. All animals have no business on a plane except in cargo and if you’re too close to your pet to accept that then DRIVE or take a boat. Period. People are so pretentious and over entitled these days. It’s unbelievable how pathetic these travelers are. I’m embarrassed to be American given how our country accepts this garbage.
Thanks for bringing up a topic that needs to be constantly discussed. One thing that might help in a more practical sense would be to inform readers about a course of action to address this problem.
Don’t think it is easy for a dog on a cruise ship. They have to have a form from a vet requiring certain vaccinations and a health certificates.
They also have to register well in advance of the sailing.
@Willy “Stop pretending that dogs on planes aren’t a pleasant diversion from the hoards . . .” First, there exist people who do not consider a dog to be a pleasant diversion. Second, while I will often consider it pleasant, I promise I would loathe a situation where a dog occupied my foot space and/or sought my attention during a flight. Like virtually everyone here, I’d tolerate some level of inconvenience for a true service animal, I have no tolerance for pets on planes. Are there pax who are irritating? Sure, but none of it justifies pets. It’s like two wrongs don’t. . . bear with me, I’m working on that phrase.
I think the ADA rules should be expanded to include every form of disability encountered in human life. Expand on the unique characteristics that make our life existence different from another’s. Then the ADA can differentiate what is a disability and what is not. Place the burden on them and they can see by the applications of the term that their system is broken and open for abuse. They can then create appropriate criteria for their legal demands. ADA you be the front line, not airline agents.
So, you’ve studied the owner/animal relationship of the human/dog across the aisle and determined the human is a conniving grifter and the dog is an…innocent victim? Now what? Contact the FA and make a huge stink, on slim “evidence”, that is likely to backfire in your face? Or momentarily muse at the oddity of people and their pets, and quietly go back to finding the two movies that will make the time pass in a pretty darn delightful manner, free from any friction with your fellow inmates? I know which route I’m taking. Now, go in peace.
You aren’t supposed to take a picture with your service dog as indicated on #5? I do this when I get on the plane and send it to my parents saying we’re on the way. Sheesh this article kinda suggests service animals are 100% machines or something. Even legitimate service animals are living conscious beings and should be treated as such. The only point in this article that makes sense is #4.
Gary, you forgot 4 much more likely identifiers of fake service animals: The owner is
#6 Female and young
#7 Female and beautiful
#8 Female with visible cosmetic surgery
#9 Female taking selfies
Real service dogs are extremely well behaved.
You are permitted to bring 2 services animals or service animals in training. So it us possible someone might see 2 and they are legitimately service dogs.
By law, the #1 requirement for a Service Animal is that the animal serves a Disabled Person. A Disabled Person is defined by law. I’m blind, I’m a disabled Person. My service animal, and the way I treat him is none of your business.
Pretending to be a Disabled Person to take advantage of the rules is a crime.
Be mad at the Fraud (male or female), not the animal.
Another point I’d like to make is if a person with a disability is able to train their own service animal they can. The animals don’t have to be trained by an organization. The ADA allows it. Some people are capable of doing so. I happen to be one of them. My dog does exactly what i trained her to do. Peace, out.
ADA identifies 2 animals as service animals, dog and miniature horse. All other are at best an emotional support animal (ESA). An ESA only has rights for residential locations and no other, to include a plane.
“People who were bringing turkeys onto planes aren’t also the people who tend to file paperwork in advance.”
Many of those are in the comments section though!!!
Also, can a Ka*en pass off Little Timmy as a “service animal”?
What if he wears a leash and a collar?
What if he rips the seat padding and/or pees in random places inside the cabin?
Surely that’s a service animal, yeah?
Physician here. It’s not quite so simple.
There is no central registry of service animals (though it would be nice if there was). Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) place significant limits on what airlines (ADA) and even healthcare provider (HIPAA) can share without explicit authorization from the passenger/patient.
While it’s clear there are a few people abusing the system, it’s not a passenger’s place to be hassling other passengers about their purported service or emotional support animals. If the animal is creating a disruption best to let the FA’s handle it.
Most of the time animals (service or emotional support) are well-behaved, and there’s nothing to be gained by harassing one’s fellow travelers.
@Willy
Seems like you need a hug, then some valium, or Librium, or perhaps the padre. Probably all three, at the very least.
Or perhaps the just the Padre, then euthanasia.
So wishing death on other posters is ok on this site such as what @Thumper suggested?
The ADA states that a service animal is one that has been TRAINED to perform a specific task for the person. The ADA further states that service animals are either: (1) dogs or (2) miniature horses. No other species is a service animal under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Some disabilities are obvious, like a blind person’s guide dog (or miniature horse – they are especially good for this as they are stronger than dogs, don’t have fleas, and live about three times as long). Others are more subtle. A service dog might be TRAINED to notice that the person is about to have an epileptic seizure, for example, and alert the person to that so he or she can get into a safe sitting or other position before the seizure occurs.
“Emotional support” animals that have NOT BEEN TRAINED to perform a task for a person with a disability are NOT service animals. “I get nervous so I pet Fluffy and I feel better” is not a description of a service animal.
Passing off a pet or ESA as a service animal should be treated as parking in a handicapped parking space just because you feel you’re entitled to.
Can we please have the certification requirements present in the UK
Would be better for all parties
“Have been assessed as suitable for those purposes by an accredited member of Assistance Dogs International (ADI) or the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) to comply with the requirements of the UK Government, specifically the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA”
Columnist needs to get a grip and do his research. Thinking he is or encouraging others to be the service dog police is incredibly irresponsible and potentially dangerous for service dog users. It is totally inappropriate for passengers to be questioning anyone’s civil rights. Shame on him.
I’ve been on planes with true Service Animals and they were extremely well behaved and just blended in with the background, even though they were rather large. They aren’t the problem.
It’s all the other “emotional support animals” that are about as well trained as their owners (not at all) that are the reason we’re here arguing.
Cissy, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees us all the inalienable right to vocally “questioning anyone’s civil rights”. Your ADA rights to not override others Constitutional rights.