What appears to be an emotional support poodle flew American AIrlines out of Dallas in its own first class seat on Sunday.. The dog named “happy” in Chinese was reported “well behaved” but still shouldn’t have been there. Despite blatantly violating published airline rules, the carrier simply called it a “classy pup.”
Flying in style ✈️ this standard poodle has his own seat today in first class on @AmericanAir – His name is kuài lè – Chinese for happy. And even though he has @steelers collar he was quite well behaved Maybe I can convert him to @chiefs fan by the end of the flight?! pic.twitter.com/QcsbUXLDQz
— Leigh Ann Cleaver (@lacleaver) November 10, 2024
According to the American Airlines pet policy, even a service animal “may not..[o]ccupy a seat.”
You can, however, buy yourself an extra seat and – as long as you fill out the paperwork attesting to service animal status – place your pet in that seat beside you.
However, since this arrangement clearly violates American Airlines rules, this response from their social media team strikes me as inopposite.
Kuài lè sure seems like one classy pup! Knowing what we do about a dog's loyalty, we don't know how much luck you'll have with the team conversion, but we still hope you have a great trip together!
— americanair (@AmericanAir) November 10, 2024
Passengers can bring service animals on a plane, and don’t have to pay extra to do so. If they bring a pet in cabin legitimately, they pay a fee that can sometimes be as much as a ticket but without getting an extra seat. To bring a service animal you just have to fill out paperwork, which largely amounts to attesting that it’s a service animal.
Emotional support animals aren’t supposed to be a thing on planes anymore, but it’s really an ‘honor system’ sort of thing. It would genuinely surprise me if this dog were an actual service animal (even though it still shouldn’t have its own seat). If it’s not a service animal it’s required to remain inside a carrier, underneath the seat in front of the passenger.
There are still plenty of animals on planes, even if it’s not the Noah’s Ark two of each animal situation that it used to be six years ago, before the federal government let airlines tighten their rules. The average passenger wanting to bring an emotional support animal also happens not to be very good at handling the paperwork in advance.
I do not condone disorder or rules violators, yet what I have noticed is a rise in willful hatred towards the vulnerable, whether it be pets, as in this case, or children, or the disabled, etc. They are easy targets for our disgruntled ire. We should fine better ways to take out our aggression than this.
If you pay for a seat you should get a seat. If I paid for a seat, especially a first class seat, and they “gave it away” because of an airline rule, my lawyers would be going head over heels . . .
We’re moving from the west coast to east coast next month. We have a small service dog and a senior cat. We purchased two first class seats on a redeye. The cat will get a sedative and hopefully sleep for the 5 hour nighttime flight. The dog has traveled at our feet in first class before with no issues.
This allowing people to take pet, other than bona fide service animals needs to stop. If you can’t make it through a flight without Fido or Tabby just stay home. That being said, if the current policy allows one to purchase an extra seat and if that person is allowed to bring on their dog then the dog gets the seat. It’s the airlines that continue to indulge these children in adult bodies.
After Anerican Airlines stopped serving first-class meals due to listeria contamination from Detroit catering, someone said, “They are eating the dogs, they are eating the cats.” Then American Airlines features a flying first-class puppy. Coincidence?
Grrr. Scammers are making a fortune on fake service dog certification ( in as little as four hours and $500 ) . This is so insulting to the animals that have years of training and those that actually need assistance. Perhaps just eliminating *the rules* will stop the abuse. I love dogs but hate liars.
Gary – you obviously hate dogs which makes you a pathetic person. Also, there is hate on anything people do WITH THEIR OWN MONEY. If the policy allows someone to buy 2 seats and then put their service dog there (which seems to be the case) then why are you so angry about it? Is it MAYBE jealousy that they can afford 2 FC seats or just that it takes away a potential upgrade for you and others flying on OPM? Finally, don’t be so quick to judge that may be a service animal. They aren’t all larger breeds. Many serve specific purposes related to recognition of medical conditions (dog’s smelling is amazing and can anticipate a number of medical events). Also, there is a process to register a dog as a service dog. My daughter has one and also trains them so all the “dog bashing” articles comes across as ignorant.
@Maryland – there is no “service animal certification” so anyone selling it is scamming the people paying plus anyone that may rely on this fake paperwork. Airlines can ask for vet records related to shots and the person attests the animal is, in fact, a service animal but there is no national certification or documentation. Airlines can not ask what medical condition the service dog assists with since that is a violation of Federal medical privacy rules (not HIPAA since that only applies to disclosure by medical entities). My daughter has had a service animal for years and also trains them so I know the rules.
AC is spot on.
The only hate comes from people who are miserable because they fly on OPM and end up sitting on Y because of a missed upgrade.
And as usual all bloggers make up the story in their own head and believ that is what happened.
How about that was a service dog (i.e. seizure detection, PTSD,…) and the handler purchase the additional seat to make sure they are NOT inconveniencing anyone?
But no that can’t be then it can’t be clickbait anymore. and “Despite blatantly violating published airline rules, the carrier simply called it a “classy pup.”” the “not occupy a seat”? And if you look at the pictures the dog is exactly where it is supposed to be in the footwell not in a seat
@AC I did not see anything about Gary not liking dogs beyond stating some facts or information. I bought a first class seat for my puppy when I brought her home, she had to be. on the floor during take off and landing but the seat (in the crate) was hers.
@ ac. Google service dog certification. You will find breeders and trainers that work for years with individuals and specific animals. And then there are the new scammers. These certificates are used to circumvent rentals and HOAs so people can go around prior agreements that disallow pets.
There should be a certification process for so called service animals. People buy a jacket from Amazon and assume they can take them anywhere. I’m sick of tripping over them in the supermarket, watching them pee on produce. There should be a fine, like illegally parking in a disabled space.
@AC is SPOT ON. Gary clearly has major issues with dogs and continues to post click bate articles (this is at least the second this week I’m commenting on) and should really tone it down. While I’m sure your engagement is through the roof (which is probably a big reason for continuing the hateful dog posts) it’s just becoming ridiculous. As someone who travels on a very regular basis with my actual service dog, posts like this continue to divide and create issues which I truly don’t appreciate. @Gary – asking politely if you could please tone down the dog posts a bit for the sake of those of us that need to fly with them on a regular basis?? Thanks in advance.
@Adrian where are you shopping that has your produce on the floor for dogs to pee on? That sounds like the bigger issue to me!
@matt Ryder you know it happens and you know there is abuse. I have raised dogs for an organization that uses the dogs to be service dogs and drug detection dogs some fail and become pets.
There is a process and professional training. Yorkshire terriers are not used as service animals
I have been at Lowe’s and seen a dog urinate on merchandise and the owner walk away. So it does happen
Sadly, responses to a story like this follow the same silly pattern. Someone criticizes fake service dogs, and then comes the replies justifying real, trained, service dogs. From now on I’m using the acronym ISRSD (I support real service dogs), so when I criticize fakers, maybe someone gets it…..OK not going to happen, sadly.
There are reasons why pets/service animals do not occupy seats. First is hygiene. Pets have fleas. Fleas get into the seat and the unsuspecting next passenger is sitting right down on them. Second is safety – if there is turbulence your pet which obviously doesn’t have a seat belt, can be thrown into the air or become a flying object. If the pet is under the seat, they are protected. If they are in their carrier, they are safe! If you love your pet wouldn’t you want them to be as safe as possible? Safe thing for take off and landing – if they aren’t secured, they could be seriously hurt.
I have no problem with service dogs however cannot stand the thought of sitting in a seat after an animal has sat there
What’s not really clear from the article is whether or not the dog simply took the seat next to the owner because it was available.
Is it a 100% guarantee first class is always 100% occupied? From the spirit of the postings, I get the feeling the seat was unoccupied and the took advantage of that fact.
It doesn’t seem like a paying passenger or an upgraded passenger was displaced, in which case this isn’t much different than a person putting their backpack or carry-on in the unoccupied adjacent seat. Unless this wrong, but I don’t see why we would be upset at a “policy violation” if the seat was available.
Do we then complain if someone decides to nap on an empty flight where the whole row is vacant? Is that not a policy violation as well?
Unless now we feel a backpack can go in an empty seat but a dog can’t.
I am a pet fan. I am not a fan of pet hair on my clothing or dirty paws on my headrest or anything else that will make my experience worse. Pets in carriers OK. Pets sitting in a seat, not OK.
I have flown recently on planes where there are multiple 1st class seats available, and yes, the plane was mostly empty and everyone dividend miles silver or above got upgraded.
Or another possible scenario is a delayed flight for more than 12+ hours, and while 90% of the original passengers rebooked, the remaining ones waited and since the plane had to relocate, it’s basically empty.
So lots of reasons!
Great job for getting posts/views, as always (something my business needs to get better at!)
I’m amazed at the misunderstanding of the author. The dog in this story did nothing wrong. You can buy an extra seat for a service dog. What you can NOT do is put the dog ON the seat, because it becomes an unsecured item in in turbulence. The seat belts aren’t certified for dogs, even with aftermarket attachments. The dog can stay on the floor in front of the empty seat. The reason for buying the extra seat is because you really wouldn’t be able to squeeze a large dog in your own leg room, especially if you’re not in first class
We were recently on a flight from Charlotte to London. There was a family in coach with a very large St. Bernard. I was in business class so I couldn’t see what was going on but our flight was delayed nearly an hour as they figured out where the dog was going to sit. People back there were really annoyed.