Comments

1. @RJ, If you read the comments, you will find there a few idiots/trolls on this subject. But, understand the common thread here is 1) fake service dogs are loathed (not the dog, but the owner), 2) reasonable accommodation to true service dogs is appropriate/expected, 3) the accommodation in (2) should not be borne by other psssagengers, and (4) most of these service animals are a ruse to get a pet on board uncaged. We spend most of our time focused on (1), (3), and (4).

   Rarely are any of the pets masquerading as service animals being transported to a new home.

2. @Retired Gambler
   Somebody hurt you, so you get to spread hate here? Hell is wrong with you?

3. I’m a disabled veteran. I have a service dog for mobility and PTSD.
   I fly with him. I purchase premium seats for additional leg room. He is positioned under the seat in front of me and between my legs unless circumstances do not permit it. He doesn’t bark or disturb the other passengers. Service dogs are to be seen not heard or petted unless permitted.
   I try to book a window seat. This way my dog does not have to be disturbed if someone needs to go to the head. His size lets him fit under the seat easily unlike labs, golden retriever’s, labradoodles, etc. By the way, his breed is an American Bulldog Terrier mix rescue. He was trained to be a service animal from the age of four months. He is my only animal and important lifeline.

4. I have a REAL Service Dog..My condition and needs, requires him to be “Off-leash”..
   I’ve had my ADA Right trampled on for over a decade..
   Furthermore, it’s the small town Sheriff’s Offices that Violate my Rights more than anyone else..
   Even after I show them the ADA Laws,they still Refuse to comply..

5. Be thankful that you are not ♿ and have compassion for owners that need the lifeline they provided. Are you so self centered that you can’t allow yourself to sacrifice a little

6. Gary, service animals are NOT pets! My daughter’ service dog is for mobility, anxiety & because she’s on the spectrum. The 3 of us fly together and in the bulkhead seats, so no one else’s space is affected. Her dog was trained for 14 months. You seem pretty ignorant of services they can provide and only selfishly caring how it affects you!

7. True service dogs are highly trained animals and it takes a couple of years. I’m sick and tired of some in our society caring more about themselves than others while trying to pass off fake service dogs and trampling on my rights. The US has become a country of nothing but self serving people who care more about themselves than their neighbors. For people who truly need service dogs I have no issue but the rest of you with fake service animals you all need to stop being so selfish and start caring about others.

8. Im a diabetic with seizures and my little guy doesn’t look or act like a service dog but when my sugar is low and im about to go down he knows he is in my face a under my left hand and or lickings my ears and wining. My own Dr saw this first hand and asked for him to get his medallion. Soooooo what do people have to say to that? Im just saying not all service dogs look or act like the old school service dog. There’s a new breed of veterans and disabilities. Times have changed . It’s time for people to become more educated.

9. I have a service dog. I purposely leave my service dog at home if I have a family member or friend who can provide the same services to me. I do not wish to encroach on other people’s space, or affect those who are allergic or afraid of dogs. If it is possible to leave him home I do. In the situations when it is not possible, I seat myself in areas away from other people as much as possible. This being said the OP has every right to be able to sit with her feet in front of her and move a little bit for her flight. Both of those dogs are taking up the space that she paid for. Again if the owners need those dogs to be with them, they should be with them, they should not have to pay more to have them there, but at the same time they need to have enough room to keep their dog in their space not someone else’s. My service dog is a great Pyrenees. He is huge and 160 lb. I would never try to fit him on a plane unless I purchased an extra seat with enough room for him without getting in someone else’s space. People have a right to the space that they purchased just as much as a disabled person has a right to have their service animal with them.

10. All you haters…I have a hearing dog who goes everywhere with me..and never even one time in our travels around the world….has there been a problem with ( fake) service dogs. ..if a dog acts like smells like a service dog that’s all you need to know. Stop making accusations that you don’t know about. Personally I think everyone should have a service dog

11. These fake vests have been around long enough that the DoJ and ADA need to start certifying and documenting service animals. The honor system is a complete failure in this aspect.

12. Flying is uncomfortable for everyone, unless you are in 1st class We travel with my hearing dog (10#Chihuahua) who is trained and caged during travel (for his safety so he won’t get trampled) and directly under my or my husband’s seat. Please can we be a little more giving for those who have larger animals?

13. In all the years of the Internet, this is only the third time I have felt compelled to comment on a story.

    I find it quite fascinating that this article from a website which I regularly read and appreciate the information derived from it, was written in a rather slanted way. More as an unresearched op-ed piece.

    Yes, there are passengers who abuse
    the pet/service animal travel rules and make it difficult for those of us who have a legitimate need. As such, I generally try to fly in business or first class but as a person who not only was a travel agent and worked for the airlines in the 1980s, I agree that the abuse of “emotional support“ assistance pets and true “service animals“ has definitely strayed from its original path and intent. I suggest a tranquilizer if one can’t handle the modern air travel and are emotionally affected, but I state that as my opinion.

    Because my medical condition does not require a large animal, but rather a small dog (that is ALLOWED to sit on my lap) able to smell my blood and detect diabetic changes in it so for his comfort, travels in a carrier kept underneath the seat in front of me. In the event he detects changes in my blood which could be of consequence, he will alert me by softly barking and acting fidgety.while inside his carrier bag, this affects no one. The legroom for someone who elects to pay for a cheap economy seat and knows that the airlines have continually decreased the amount of space in that class of service, is making that choice on their own. To pay an additional $15 – $35 for a seat which offers a whopping 3 inches of extra legroom is your option, as is changing seats if available all the way prior to departure as stated by one of the other readers commenting.on this article, is yours.

    If there is a situation, address it with the flight crew. Even 40 years ago, we were trained to deal with everything that could knowingly arise. I feel your article has been written as a complaint more than it has as an objective statement on the topic of travel with true service animals. Such as a blind individual who requires a larger size service animal.

    You have decreased my impression of your website, but there are plenty others which are capable of composing a report or article objectively and without bias.

    Perhaps if you, the author, had a disability, you may have written this in a different tone. I know that I will be clicking on less stories from.viewfromthewing.com as this was a very poorly researched and written report.

    If you want to write a story complaining about passengers who abuse the policies, then make that the topic and remember to include the airlines’ decisions in your writings. But do not write this story in a manner which implies anyone with a legitimate need creates an inconvenience for your legroom. I would like to write a story about parents who let their children misbehave during flights and do nothing about it – but that would be the headline, not something, misleading and lacking a “both sides of the coin” article as you have composed.

    Kind regards,
    A passenger with a true disability

14. Your article really slants towards an agenda against anyone with a disability and has a service dog. I have a service dog. She and I trained for a year before certifying with our organization. We continue to train monthly because it is important to keep my dog’s skills sharp. I have to show proof of her service dog certification before we fly. Our organization works with the airlines so we don’t have difficulties when we fly. The trained service dog isn’t the problem. It is the narrow mindedness and discrimination towards those if us with disabilities and service dogs that is the problem. People like you. I am sorry you chose to behave this way. Shame on you.

15. You are a very self centered writer. Although it can be annoying that people bring fake service dogs onto flights and into just about any public area, that doesn’t give you the right to discriminate against trust service dogs and their disabled owners. Service dogs need to be trained and well behaved, and I feel as though stricter rules should be placed on service animals to prevent those who are not true service animals from being allowed in public areas. You should also never say accommodating those with a disability is a burden, that is flat out disrespectful of you. I highly frown upon you and how you choose to treat those with disabilities, yes I know, not much room is provided on planes, however, true service dogs and their owners are shown how to position their service dogs onto a position that doesn’t disturb others. although this isn’t taught at all facilities, it is taught at most. Those who do not respect your space most likely do not have true service animals OR where never properly taught at their training facility, which then falls onto them and their training facility. Do not ever disrespect those with disabilities ever again, you are a very horrible person for this and if I didn’t have human decency this message would’ve contained many inappropriate terms and words to call you. Fix yourself before you wreck yourself even more, nobody is going to stand for your disrespectful acts towards those who can not control their disabilities. And to add onto that, you are also disrespecting your retired service members that gave you the country you have, so, be more respectful or stop flying, and help those with true service dogs bust those with fake, they would appreciate less yapping annoying dogs distracting their technically medical equipment, not dogs. So again, fix yourself, you’re disrespectful and a horrible human being.

16. In response to the commenter suggesting passengers be required to show their handicap placard in order to bring their service animal on board, the placard is normally displayed in their vehicle parked at the airport in a handicapped spot, so that is not an option. Not sure where you live, but my state allows only one placard per handicapped person, and you must give them your old placard back when renewing it, can’t have two placards for the same person.

17. I’m highly allergic to dogs and it’s getting harder not to sit next to someone’s canine — fake service animal or not. The discussion on this topic leaves out the fact that there are competing medical interests here.

18. Reading some of the replies here makes me glad I’ve not flown domestically since before the pandemic. Internationally we seem to get fewer wackadoodles but some of you are the ones who perhaps should be caged.

    “My condition and needs, requires him to be “Off-leash”..” um what

    “Furthermore, it’s the small town Sheriff’s Offices that Violate my Rights more than anyone else..” um yes because leash laws?

19. What is your answer? Stop all service dogs? The one belonging to the veteran who has suffered physical and mental pain? The blind teen who can now be independent? Or the diabetic whose animal can warn her of low sugar? The person with seizures who relies on his service animal for to make sure he is safe from falling or worse? Lobby for uniform, regulation service animal wearable identification and owner ID. You realize your preaching for YOUR special privileges? And I don’t give a hoot helping someone who needs it, paying a couple dollars more each for the seat/space. I do hope I never have to hear from someone like you when I fly.

20. @Kayla
    You are soooooo wrong. Gary is 100% correct about these fake service animals. Maybe read what he wrote instead of crying for sympathy when you are missing the point.

21. All I’ve got to say is if your fake service animal bites me, even a little bit, be ready to sign over all your money now and in the future.

22. Plus one for Gary. I don’t disagree that people who have true needs should be able to have to have their service animals, but there should be higher levels of proof/documentation that these animals are medically required. It’s a very sad state of affairs, but too many people are simply taking advantage of the honor system.

23. Southwest gets offended about a crying but it does nothing to stop all the people that fake a disability and seat on a WC in order to enter the plane first an grab a good seat without paying the fees Last time I flew with them I counted 47 ( plus their family members) Most of them walked off the plane with no issue once we got to our destination.

24. I do not have a service animal. I fully support people who actually need a service animal. I don’t understand all the hate in the comments section. The author was complaining mostly about people who have “fake” service animals and the fact that the ADA forbids asking for proof of an animal’s actual status. Considering the impact on other travelers I don’t think it’s too much to ask that people have a document signed by a professional, third party individual stating that the animal is a service animal. The honor system no longer works in our country because so many (not all) people have been raised with a complete lack of accountability and a massive sense of entitlement

25. Ah come on folks (many of you posting for the first time here), one can simultaneously support legit service dogs and their masters and despise those that just buy a vest for their pet. It is not the least bit discriminatory, hateful, etc. to expect a service dog to be trained not only in their primary service, but also to “stay in their space.”

    And, bringing up the “veteran card” is a red herring. The right of a person to a service animal is unaffected by their military service or lack thereof. “I know you need a service animal, but you can’t as you’re not a veteran,” and, “Because you’re a veteran, you can call your pet a service dog (wink, wink),” are two sentences no one should be allowed to say.

    Maybe the high toad folks?

26. Dave W. wins with best post of them all.

27. Honestly, for both people who agree with this post and people who don’t agree with this post, the latter of which are mostly people who have legitimate service animals, you seem to be forgetting one thing that might honestly make a lot of these issues disappear. A lot of this being an issue is solely because of Airlines trying to increase their profit margin by jamming as many seats as physically possible into a plane. For people who have service animals, please understand, people aren’t even happy with how close other people are to them. You know that the amount of space between each single passenger has been getting smaller and smaller over the past years. Therefore, it is going to be given that passengers are going to be upset when that little space between passengers is now being occupied by a dog. Essentially, everyone deserves to feel comfortable on a flight. Everyone is paying to use this service. There are still people with service animals who are not happy about how tight this space is for their dog to occupy. This is also partially the reason why, like one person mentioned above, people with service animals will often buy premium seats, to have the additional space. People are not saying that they don’t want service animals in public, with maybe the exception of fake service animals. People are tired of constantly losing the very little space that they have due to Airline policy. Stop taking your anger out on each other and start asking Airlines why airplane cabins don’t have more space so that people are allowed to spread out a bit more when seated and everyone can have personal space while also still having space for what or whoever they are carrying with them.

28. Service dog or emotional support animals that are kept in a carrier should not be confused with animals kept on a leash and free to lay/sit in the cabin. Please make this distinction if you are going to continually beat your opinionated drum on this topic. Hint: 2 articles loathing this is enough.

29. Perhaps people should start bringing dog repellent when they fly.

30. I am a dog breeder so I love dogs. But I recently flew on SWA in bulkhead row with man with large standard poodle at window seat, wife in middle row, me on aisle. Unless man has PTSD dog is not a service dog and was moving all over all seat areas, clearly not trained. There were at least 20 people who arrived in WC and only 3 who actually needed them. Once at gait most jumped up and walked all over terminal. One man was carrying his came. I walk with a walker from a stroke, nun had came, and another stayed in WC.
    When boarding called many supposedly needing WC, rushed the gate agent to board first. When the gate agent motioned to me. A woman pushed in front of me to board until the nun told her he meant me. This abuse is getting more prevalent. This needs to stop.

31. Airlines used to allow enough space between seats that almost everyone… tall people, fat people, people who need a little extra baggage, people with animals, people with infants, people with disabilities, people who reclined… had room to stretch out, eat, work, be reasonably comfortable even in coach.

    Then people demanded cheaper and cheaper seats and the rewarded the airlines willing to sell them to them. Here we are now, passenger vs. Passenger.

32. But your incessantly crying infant is fine?

33. I cruise a lot. Emotional support aminals have been banned on cruise ships in the last couple of years. Earlier this I came across a “service dog” that was missing an eye, needed oxygen, and was carried around in a stroller. Please tell me what tasked they performed.

34. 1) Uncaged dog(s), with unrestrained cages in the cabin are a massive safety issue – the more uncaged pets there are, the bigger safety issue it becomes. This of itself should be the end of the discussion, but because we live in such a self indulgent era of society it isn’t.

    2) As much as I like dogs, not everyone does. People should not be subjected to animals infringing in their personal space. Or even worse, triggering allergies and phobias.

    Take the train, a car or buy the seat next to you and put the dog in a cage. Sorry, not sorry.

35. How dare those useless disabled people inconvenience me just because they want to enjoy the same freedom of mobility I have. Don’t they know they should just lock themselves into an asylum and never come out where I might have to, gasp, walk a few steps further because they took the best parking spots just because they can’t walk, or maybe even move my feet a tiny bit because their service dog is big enough to cushion them when they fall?! Screw those cripples, what about ME and MY NEEDS??? I paid for this seat, so instead of being angry at airlines for being greedy af and making seats untenably small I’m gonna shame all the disableds. To hell with them! Bring back eugenics!!

36. Most of the whiners must have read the headline, then immediately launched into their woe-is-me sob story and/or angry tirade. For the tl:dr folk, Gary is not against true service animals on the plane. The end.

    I especially enjoyed the the woman who ‘just knows’ her dog is a service dog, and that’s good enough for her! Flying is so great!

37. Obviously, the writer has never been seated next to an obese person! Talk about having your seat space compromised. The author’s logic would require an obese person to be given an adjoining seat, or forced to buy one. And who decides how obese a person must be before this kicks in. And what about the person who bought that seat, are they kicked off the flight to make room for the obese person? What about a person with a screaming kicking baby? Same questions. A person who emits gasses or has a bad odor? Get the idea? Let those who need dogs, or even the ones who just love them, alone. People with dogs are among the kindest, most caring, and most generous people on earth

38. I’m disabled and have a service animal. The United States or each state needs to make a legal license for animals because there’s a lot of people that miss use the privilege

39. Since when do we, the public, all bear the cost of someone else’s emotional needs? If there’s a patient on board a flight that requires an emotional needs animal and the ADA states that that medical accommodation is required to be provided for free, why do private citizens have to bear that cost, with infringement of their personally bought seat and space? Require the airline to dedicate “free space” to that accommodated passenger away from passengers who made payment for All of their own seat space. Why aren’t the infringed upon passengers and airline companies suing the ADA for their protected rights? File a Class Action Suit. What are you waiting for? It’s not about sympathy and understanding. This is a matter of common sense. If you need an accommodation, then figure it out at your own personal cost, or find a donor. Someone who pays for the space that your animal needs, so it isn’t up under my legs. That’s infringement of MY EMOTIONAL NEEDS. I too have CPTSD, and this situation, as described, would put me over the top. If a passenger has a bonafide emotional phobia about space infringement, you think that’s okay to trump your needs over theirs, AT THEIR FINANCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COST? Ludicrous! A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THE ADA TO CHANGE THE ACCOMMODATION so that there is no undue infringement on the rights of others on a aircraft, or any other confined space is what needs to happen. All of you with photos & videos, band together and find a good lawyer. This is craziness. Sue for immediate full airfare reimbursement on the spot if there is no other animal free seat available on the flight. That’ll get a second look these ridiculous impingement of peace. What if you have unknown allergies againt the critters? Amazing. Support animals yes, but not in the intimate space of others.

40. Real simple, charge for an extra seat, and most of the cheats will disappear.
    And limit it to trained dogs that have received 12 months of more of certified training. How hard is that.
    You want a horse, a peacock, or a salmonella infested lizard… take a truck or car.

    How unreasonable is that?

    Sheesh

41. This is just how it is. Don’t blame people for their disabilities. Our lives are already hell. Just be quiet and sit there. You already have an advantage of being able to do everything you want to to do. You can relax for 4 hours and accommodate. Don’t be selfish.

42. My only comment is in regards to the video with the Service Animal that is a miniature horse. The woman who has her got her for 2 reasons. Firstly she was allergic to dogs. Secondly one of the things that she needs her is for mobility and a miniature horse is excellent for that. The horse is thoroughly trained including being potty trained. When she flew with her she made sure that she bought a seat with the most leg room and paid for an extra seat to make sure that they had plenty of room. Her Service Horse was perfectly well behaved on the plane.

43. On my Top 10 Worst Peoples List, are American dog owners. Especially the most irresponsible ones: Those who allow their dogs walk unleashed. You all are the most selfish and entitled group who I’ve met, and I traveled over 40 nations. I find it laughable that you dog nutters are whining about people who don’t want to be around your mutt as being “selfish” and “inconsiderate,” when you’re behaving in the same fashion. You dog nutters have taken this entirely too far with your pets. I’m a Disabled Veteran diagnosed with Chronic PTSD and agoraphobia, and I would NEVER even consider inconveniencing others due to my individual personal issues. People have been traveling on flights for decades without pets, and they survived the trip just fine.

    In my estimation, it’s selfish to inconvenience others because you want to bring your mutt with you. There are people who are legitimately terrified of dogs, or had traumatic experiences from dogs, and what you’re saying is, “my wants are more important than your needs and desires.” If you need your dog to travel, then drive your car, but don’t inconvenience others. If your animals so much as sniffs me I’m finding a reason to sue you. If I’m ever on a flight with any of you, I will do absolutely NOTHING to accommodate you or your dog.

    Believe it, or not, there ARE places where your animal does NOT belong: Grocery stores, airplanes, and trains for starters. I have zero qualms with telling people how disgusting and nasty they are for having their animals in the grocery section. You people are crazy!

44. Wow. Just wow. I’m not sure you, or any of the other resentful nutjobs, actually understand the NEED for having a service animal. Do you think anyone enjoys having either a medical or psychological issue that they physically need the animal? If we could all just walk, talk, and be selfish all the time then no one would need any support. For anything. I mean really. Who cares. Gary, you’re a jerk.

45. To all of you pet owners complaining about your ‘rights’ to bring your pet on an airplane, and saying anyone who pushes back is selfish, have you put your selfishness aside to think about the other paying passengers? There are LOTS of people who are deathly allergic to your pets. Now you are not only allowing your animal to take up the small amount of space that they paid for, you are also making it very difficult for them to breath. I am one of these people and when I have asked flight attendants about it in the past, I am the one who is asked to move to a different seat, away from my family, and it’s never an upgrade. Perhaps airlines need to make a special area for kennels that is temp controlled and have a way to keep the kennels from moving around in a designated spot below the passengers. Anyone with a true service animal, will have any inflight needs met by one of the fabulous flight attendants and will be greeted at the plane door by airport personnel and escorted to the animal claim area. Anyone with an ESA, can retrieve their animal in the same designated animal claim area. This allows you to bring your animal, wherever you’re going, while also allowing people with allergies to continue to breath without the use of inhalers, being heavily medicated, sometimes needing to use an epi pen and spending the first day of their vacation in the hospital getting breathing treatments, all because you just had to have your pet on the plane. And to be honest, this doesn’t even talk about the rights of people that are terrified of dogs or other animals, or people that don’t want to hear or smell your animal during their flight. It doesn’t matter why people may not want your pet on the plane, they (we) are paying passengers and you are infringing on our rights.

46. First and foremost, thank you for serving our country. We wouldn’t have the freedom we do without our veterans as far as your message to dog owners, you absolutely need counseling! Your anger is beyond acceptable and you have no right to talk to dog owners the way you did. Get your own private flight if you can’t stand dogs. Again, please seek therapy as you need it desperately.

47. Having been an airline employee for 30 years, I can confidently say: the real animals are the flying public.

48. @Hugh Mungus, thank you for your service.

49. While most people are honest, there’s always a few bad eggs who try too use the system for their own benefit. Most people need to have medical paperwork stating the service is qualified, you forgot to mention that Gary!

    It’s not just sign a pice of paper that you acknowledge that says you decide there a service animal. It’s wrong for you to stereotype people with needs and need a service animal for basic living, just so you can get people to post on your site, and stir up a hornets nest! Just stop!

50. Well, this is a problem with a lot of things. Some people are going to abuse certain privileges. But specifically, this article is flawed in such a way as to say that everyone should be able to act as judge, jury and executioner of the matter and so the only solution to everyone’s gripes is to just do away with it entirely or make it so difficult that its no longer feasible to get a service dog or animal to pass the benchmark. Because let’s face it, there are a lot of people put there who don’t like dogs at all and don’t want to give a care about anyone else’s phobias. You have a lot of bullies and control freaks put there which is also contributing for the need of support. We also have a lot of people who are just plain jealous! And they don’t want to see anybody happy out there traveling. So what do they do? They complain and make things up and try to make the case that “everyone has to pay blah blah blah” when thats really a bunch of nonsense. There are a lot of much more important issues to tackle right now. Number one is this bullying going on. Number two overcharging for everything. Three lack of good customer service. Treating peopke like cattle. No leg room at all. No food or drinks. What about that mask wearing BS? POLITICAL BS. Lack of safety concerns. Poor quality of everything and we are just trying to get somewhere and maybe ro actually enjoy life a little bit. This reptilian draconian BS running rampant. Lack of empathy at all. No manners from anyone- even the service staff has no respect for anyone anymore. So, yes. Some of us humans are going to need our dogs and companions. And anybody that doesn’t understand that is probably lacking in the priority and values category. There are more important things to worry about like how your luggage is being handled and whether or not anybody accepts legal tender anymore or somebody wants to stick you with a needle with God knows what and micro-manage your life down to a gnats behind. Have a nice day!