It was an onboard showdown: service animal versus fake service animal. Passengers with the fake service animal demanded they shouldn’t have to sit next to a real one, and they wanted his underseat storage space, too.
A blind passenger real seeing-eye dog. Another passenger had their own dog, claimed it was a service animal, and demanded that they not have to sit next to another dog. They said their animal couldn’t sit next to other animals or it might become aggressive.
They also wanted to be able to use the space in that other passenger’s seat where the real service animal was for their own stuff, since their pet was take up their storage space. The couple appeared upset about the blind passenger’s dog being seated close to theirs. Although properly trained (i.e. ‘real’) service animals are generally expected to remain calm around other dogs.
A nurse seated there filmed the interaction and she agreed to move to accommodate everyone. She noticed that the person with the real service animal was Ed Summers, a blind software engineer who is Head of Accessibility at GitHub. His dog is named Loki.
I mean I’ll be happy to sit with him. Yeah, I’d be happy to sit with him. Absolutely. I get to hang out with a dog. It’s an honor to sit over there.
My name is Jen. Can I sit with you? Do you mind if I just slide over? Oh, of course. Yeah. Thank you so much. Oh, an honor. Yeah.
And then I proceeded to have the best flight of my entire life with my new friend, Ed. He’s an IT guy whose entire life mission is to make the world more accessible to people with disabilities. So I would just like to take this time to personally thank those Krusty Musty Dingleberries for making a big deal out of something that wasn’t a big deal so that I got to hang out with literally the coolest guy ever.
Planes as Noah’s Ark, which two of each animal onboard, remain out of hand despite rules meant to crack down on the practice. I was on a Delta flight that was delayed hours, returning to the gate when an unauthorized ‘service dog’ was found onboard – but the passenger was allowed to fly with it anyway. Delta has even booted a first class passenger to accommodate a plus-sized woman with her emotional support dog and four carry-on bags, and allowed a so-called service animal to eat off a restaurant table inside their New York JFK Delta One business class lounge.
Here are 5 simple ways to spot a fake service animal: They’re being fed treats, and not just meals; their owner speaks to them in baby talk; the animals rest on pillows; there are two animals per passenger; and 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.
Gary – you are wrong on one point. Service dogs do get treats (my daughter owned service dogs plus helps train them). Now agree a properly trained dog will not get aggressive around other dogs.
It’s been a while since we got a good ole ‘dogs on planes’ post. Bout time, Gary! *bark bark*
The Wing of Shame Award for horrible people goes to … this couple.
Fake service dogs always involve a woman. I’ve rarely seen a man on his own or with another man dragging a dog along through the airport. Men know better. The easiest way to deal with the fake service dog issue is to ban all women from flights unless they’re a pilot or FA.
Me: *(Fills in my “Fake Service Animals” square on my VFTW Bingo card for this week’s articles)
Also Me: *(Still have my “Passenger melts down an/or fights others”, “Pilots get 1st class seats first”, “Passengers get kicked off the flight”, “Airplane food is horrible”, “Airline employee union is doing something bad”, and “Bad weather disrupts flights” squares to get a Bingo)
Stop hating on fake service dogs. Here’s what I found out trying to do it the HONEST way on United and American:
1) You cannot transport a pet in the hold. Only exception is active duty military.
2) Only pets under 20lbs can fly in the cabin.
3) You can’t buy a seat for your dog.
4) You get nothing for your $150 pet fee – except the FAs become real hardasses about the rules, like they’re trying to find a way to kick you off and keep the fee. Not an issue when I got her set up as a service dog. I still transport her in a carrier because she sheds like crazy and that’s not fair to anyone.
I have no problem paying (preferably with miles!) for a seat for my pet, but it’s not allowed. I flew 2000 miles for a temporary move, my dog *had* to come with me. I’ve met others who had a last-minute cancellation from their sitter and couldn’t get a replacement, or their very old dog needs lots of special handling due to hip dysplagia or arthritis. Are we supposed to just not go anywhere we can’t drive to for 2, 5, 15 years? Cancel Thanksgiving? Drive 16 hours (not all dogs do well in cars)? Yeah, there are bigger issues in air travel than pets and fake service animals, but just know that the existing rules have created this situation. Most cheaters are very low-key, the ones in this story are… well, they’re a story for a reason, lol. They’re more like the long hair drapers and the bare-feet-through-the-seaters.
The service animal dilemma is solvable. Allow private organizations to issue service dog certifications based on whatever breeding/training requirements they see fit. Fraud will be avoided by requiring the organizations to carry insurance for animals they certify in the event that they misbehave in public. Airlines then simply require certification that won’t be available to those who simply want to fly with their pet. Problem solved.
Pervasive low-grade fraud like this is yet further evidence of cultural breakdown. The United States’ position on the list of high trust societies continues to slide and Karens and Kens lying about their fake as hell service dog is just one factor in the slide to a third world post Soviet bloc style low trust society. And, to channel my inner Third Way this particular societal disease is very much Both Sides – I see just as many blue haireds with these lyin-ass service dogs as I do MAGA uncles. Pro-tip: nobody luuuvveess your smelly, dumbass fUr bAbY as much as you do – leave the mutt at home.
Great story Gary. That horrific couple should be shamed – and ashamed. My highest kudos to Ed and his service dog, and the meaningful work he’s dedicated his life to. Major shout outs to the thoughtful and gracious young woman Jen.
I once had to accomodate a seatmate on an AA RJ CGY-DFW (a long flight for a commuter jet) that brought THREE service dogs and demanded my underseat space in an already crowded situation. Not wanting to delay others by complaining and causing an episode I just scrunched up my 6’3 frame and did the best I could.
Now I keep a packet of Benadryl tabs in my carryon. If I see a fake service dog I just pop one into a small piece of Slim Jim and drop inconspicuously on the floor. You can bet pooch won’t act up after that.
There’s 2 things wrong with your “ways to spot fake service dogs”. 1. Service dogs absolutely can and will likely be fed treats, especially in an infrequent environment like an airport/airplane. 2. Some handlers do have 2 service dogs. Sometimes their dogs perform different tasks, or sometimes they work both dogs at the same time while one is preparing for retirement and the other is in training.
Jen is a perfectly lovely person. How fortunate that she was present to make this situation turn out wonderful for both Ed and herself. There really are amazing people in this world after all.
The problem with fake service animals is exactly this they are not trained around other dogs and may become aggressive. If your pet becomes aggressive towards a service animal that is working it is actually a federal crime. It is unfair to people with disabilities and dogs to assist them to have to deal with pets in these types of situations.
1) “Fake Service Dog Owners Demand Delta Move Blind Passenger Moved”?
2) It’s one thing to love em dashes; quite another to use them correctly.
Respectfully, I think you’re doing your readers a disservice.
Aside from grammatical errors, this was a kinda wholesome story… although some of the comments were written by sexists or some crusty, dusty, nasty dingleberries. I had an emotional support dog n she was the sweetest, most well behaved dog. She passed in August and it broke my heart. She would travel with me but we never flew anywhere. I’d rather drive kuz it allows me to keep my firearm with me at all times. I hope those that wrote nasty comments about dogs never own one because you don’t deserve their love. You deserve to be miserable for life, always have a hot pillow, never have matching socks, never have a product you need or want in stock, n you deserve to have the fleas of 1k camels infest your crotch n your arms be too short to scratch. You also deserve to have a perpetual itch in the middle of your back n never have a back scratcher. You also deserve to stub your toes forever n just when it feels better, you stub it again… n you deserve to always step on Legos barefoot.
There are legitimate service animal training organizations that shoud be listed with airlines. The others that sell certificates on the internet should be noted as fake. Gate agents should only allow legitimate papered service animals only past the gate . Ive delt with this all my career and dont understand why airlines put up with this. I once had a college student call her lab rat a service animal. Who knows what diseases were put into that rat.
@ DogsNeedTickets. Addressing your questions…YES.
@ Katie. To elaborate on Raylan’s comment above, anyone who refers to their “service dog” as a fur baby has a fake service dog. I’m 99.9% percent sure.
As for not buying a seat for the pet dog, an extra seat for comfort can be bought by anyone. Is it more expensive, yes, but it solves a lot of space problems. Just buy it early when there are still two seats together. I have bought an extra seat for comfort in coach multiple times before. Some airlines make it easy and others make it difficult. The only thing you have to guard against is someone else encroaching on your extra seat.
@Lighting1, it is against the law to ask the owner of a service animal to provide papers. That is a problem that would need a federal law to be remedied. If you own a restaurant, or a boutique, or an airline, the ADA only allows you to ask 2 very specific questions of a service animal owner.
1) Is the service animal required because of a disability?
2) What work or task has the service animal been trained to perform?
If you ask anything other than those two questions you’re in violation of the ADA and can be subject to fines and or jail.
Lighting1only one problem with your suggestion, federal law doesn’t require documentation or certification and it’s actually a violation under the ADA do deny service over documentation or certification or to even ask for it. Until the A-holes in Washington get off their fat behinds and fix the law then there’s going to just be more Karen’s and Darren’s like this and the one’s that suffer are the actual ones the law was made for. It’s a simple fix as congress just needs to add acceptable certification requirements or an ID card issued like a passport where individuals and doctors submit paperwork to certify a service animal.
If one must show a “Real ID” to get on a flight, then why can’t legitimate service animals be required to have a “real ID”? I agree with Joe Miller, the fat asses in Washington should make this easy to legitimately obtain. Most states will offer a human government approved ID at little or no cost. Take the animal’s picture, just like a person, and the recipient be required to show it. No ID…NO GO! There is one issue regarding animals in the cargo hold. Animals have died during the summer months as the cargo holds aren’t adequately cooled. It’s just no possible to provide that cooling with the engines at idle for prolonged periods during taxi.
While I agree that there are far too many obviously fake service dogs, the comments here are oblivious to the issues a true service dog owner has and the laws, mostly ADA.
You cannot force a handicapped person to insure the dog, that’s a legally undue burden, a charge for being handicapped. Same with requiring them to be trained privately. Believe it or not, a handicapped person or their family can legally train their dog, as long as it behaves accordingly. They can’t be legally financially burdened to go through private training or purchase a trained dog.
The only way to certify a service dog would be a test provided by the TSA, local police, even a local vet, and a free license thereafter for dogs passing.
Also realize that not all service dogs you see in cabin are for handicapped people. Search and rescue dogs, police dogs, etc often travel in cabin and are service dogs.
Everyone who has their ideas of what a service dog does is not often correct.
As for the law, the airline can only ask if the dog is a service dog, and what task(s) it is trained to do. They can’t ask for paperwork, ask about the person’s medical issues, etc. ADA law.
People also ask about allergies of others. Allergies are not a protected class, handicapped people are. If you have severe allergies, ask to be seated away from the service dog, or ask the airline to change your flight, they will.
I’m all with Doug’s Certification solution!
I’m a long time dog owner, I love my pet, but I look forward to traveling without him (as my parents looked forward to traveling without their children.)
I also acknowledge that some people require assistance. But it isn’t unreasonable to expect trained dogs to have some certification. Perhaps the ADA needs an amendment.
@ Mike Schmidt and others regurgitating the rule. We all know them and so do those with the FAKE service dogs…that’s why they spend the money on the internet for “real” fake Service Dog ID’s and vests. Cheaters will be cheaters.
I thought it interesting that one of the commenters said it always appears to be women with obvious fake service dogs, sorry, I mean fur babies. That corresponds with what I’ve seen in grocery stores and restaurants. Home Depot, not so much.
I’d love to see an article about the many jobs and sizes of service who do yeoman work for people with disabilities and enable us to live our lives. Hopefully the author or any of his loved ones never have disabilities and can be helped by a service dog. And never have to deal with such ignorance and hostility.
Service dogs on flights are covered by the ACAA, not the ADA. It will be interesting to see if this comes up during the next FAA Reauthorization.
It is one thing for you SD to ignore another dog, it very different to ask it to spend hours in a crowded space with that dog. Maybe if they had a chance to meet and get used to each other in an open space
SD are likely to get rewards frequently. Some days they get all their food as rewards and no meals.
Why can’t you use baby talk? It is a very close trusting living relationship. And why are the disabled banned from a photo shoot?
I want you to remember that the disabled is the only minority group that you can join at any instant. You are one tiny clot away
I know people who train service animals as well as search and rescue dogs. I also know people who cannot afford a trained service animal and are training them themselves, most or all with assistance from trainers. I also know people with actual trained service dogs – as well as many with dogs that are trained (or not) but are not service animals. Some are extremely well behaved, but are still not service animals.
If you see a dog which is misbehaving – bothering other animals or people, not sitting or laying quietly, or worse, urinating or pooping within the plane, it is almost definitely not a trained service animal. Their behavior is night-and-day different from an untrained “emotional support” animal. The exception is if the animal is performing their trained service, such as alerting to an impending anxiety attack (e.g., for PTSD), medical attack, etc.. That should be pretty recognizable. Another exception would be a service animal in training. I don’t know where in their training an airline flight would be, though.
In any case, an animal that is growling or fighting another animal or person should be considered as *not* a trained service animal, and should be removed from the flight.
Please do not secretly poison other people’s dogs! Benadryl can cause deadly seizures in dogs as well as humans. My doctor told me stop using Benadryl. Vets agree. Don’t do it!
Seems easy enough to keep dogs apart by requiring it at seat selection using the seat map to mark the seats with a dog or cat. It would be good to allow purchasing a seat for pets which some people would be glad to pay for and stop faking the service animal angle. Real first degree trained service animsals should have documentation, either from an accredited trainer or by passing a test.