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Please help this organization get the word out about the work they do and about how United Airlines needs training on how to treat people with disabilities and service dogs.
Me too, though the current crop of say nothing canned 'responses' from most companies 'customer service depts' these days, is almost Orwellian, imo...
"We are reaching out to the customer directly to discuss the events that he described," a spokesperson for United...
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Stuff happens (especially at IAD), PEOPLE react (on both ends); Then some cause (dogheirs.com) start tooting their horns... Facts get lost ...
Of Course the article dealt with the ABUSE to the dog... Not much about the serviceman, and certainly a 2 day delay is pretty tramatic for all, escpecially the disabled AND UA is in the hot seat already for many delays / issues.
I support an amiable (not caustic) resolution for all, and hope that happens. I won't be writing my Congressperson over this (and I'm a troublemaker / advocate for the ill treated). Trust this will be resolved BETTER without my intervention.
I'm on and International UA flight today. And yes, stuff happens (To all... indiscriminately, to best of PEOPLE's ability (Flight / counter / baggage crew))
My issue with this, is that based on this article, the dog is NOT a service dog, a "service dog" performs an actual "service" for a person with a disability, such as a guide dog, who guides a blind person. This veteran states he has PTSD, that indicates to me, that this is a "therapy dog", and United Airlines IS NOT required to transport these dogs, as therapy dogs are not covered by the Department of Transportation, to follow the ADA law, passed by congress. The DOT has a separate law, that specifies a service dog, that actually does a service. A therapy dog is not performing a compensatory service.
Now, that being said, in the article, it states the dog was kicked by airline personell, that is inappropriate, however, if the dog was adaquately trained, by a school, the dog would have been close to his owner, seated. Which makes me question if this dog has a certifciate from a school, and has been trained appropriately. Many veterans get a dog, for comfort, state it is their "service" dog, and expect the same level of treatment, as someone with a guide dog, who has been trained for countless hours, and is certified as a service dog. The issue with this, is a myriad of problems, especially if someone has a large German Shepard, is this dog aggressive? There is no certification of comprensive training...from an approved school.
this was not a comfort dog. Sarge is a certified service dog with appropriate saddle with all the proper id. This man and his wife run a foundation which helps place dogs with similar vets with disabilities. Many wounded vets have SERVICE dogs even if we cannot see the disability. Especially vets with traumatic brain damage and their dogs do provide a service. Many of these vets would not be able to even leave their homes without their service dogs.
this was not a comfort dog. Sarge is a certified service dog with appropriate saddle with all the proper id. This man and his wife run a foundation which helps place dogs with similar vets with disabilities.
What Jasper is saying is that despite whatever the person says or claims, (and despite whatever vest, identifcation or card may have) under federal law/and regulations, the animal does not meet the definition of a Service Animal under ADA. US-DOT regulations require the airlines to obey the ADA definition and regulations. As a matter of fact, due to abuse, fraud, fakes, con artrist and a magnitude of other BSer's, emotional support type animals were specifically written out of the defintion of Service Animals. There are hundreds of organizations in the USA that assit people with Service Dog designation, many are just mail order supply houses that instructs you on how to pretend that your dog is a service anaimal.
What Jasper is saying is that despite whatever the person says or claims, (and despite whatever vest, identifcation or card may have) under federal law/and regulations, the animal does not meet the definition of a Service Animal under ADA. US-DOT regulations require the airlines to obey the ADA definition and regulations. As a matter of fact, due to abuse, fraud, fakes, con artrist and a magnitude of other BSer's, emotional support type animals were specifically written out of the defintion of Service Animals. There are hundreds of organizations in the USA that assit people with Service Dog designation, many are just mail order supply houses that instructs you on how to pretend that your dog is a service anaimal.
Exactly, everyone is always quick to fire at the big mean company that employs tens of thousands of people, well I the case of united over 100,000. These evil large corporations don't care about anything.
There is almost certainly more tomthe story. I read that this particular dog was kicked off of 2 other flights before. This type of service dog is not a dog the DOT needs to allow aboard aircraft.
As tomthe kicking part that should never happen unless the dog became agressive in any way.
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