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Just this week, I noticed a new sign out in front of a grocery store (large national chain). It said, in essence, service animals are welcomed but emotional support/comfort animals are not. I was surprised to see this, and doubt it will have any effect. As I was leaving the store, I observed a woman with a small dog on a leash walking through the store.
Size is immaterial; a good friend of mine has a Min Pin/Mini Dachshund mix that is her hearing alert dog. A seizure dog, diabetes dog, or hearing alert dog doesn't need to be a large dog like a Lab or GSD.
Size is immaterial; a good friend of mine has a Min Pin/Mini Dachshund mix that is her hearing alert dog. A seizure dog, diabetes dog, or hearing alert dog doesn't need to be a large dog like a Lab or GSD.
Absolutely true. Some of the best service dogs are small breeds. So that isn't a "tell" if the dog is legitimate.
Good. Too many people basically lying about their pets being service animals to avoid paying for them. People who have legitimate service animals should have this documentation. It may be a minor inconvenience for them, but I think they would be happy to weed out the bad apples who are scamming the system.
Recently I was at the grocery store. A woman had her service dog with her. She was in a wheelchair, and the dog seemed well-trained and had a service vest on, so I am going to assume that it was a legit service dog. You would have never known the dog was there unless you saw it. That is until another woman's small dog, basically a rat in a purse, started yapping incessantly at the service dog, who basically ignored it. It absolutely infuriates me when people feel the need to take their dogs everywhere. She was asked to leave the store. I hope she was embarrassed enough to leave her dog at home next time.
I have a dog. I love my dog. But she doesn't need to go to the store with me...and she doesn't.
Size is immaterial; a good friend of mine has a Min Pin/Mini Dachshund mix that is her hearing alert dog. A seizure dog, diabetes dog, or hearing alert dog doesn't need to be a large dog like a Lab or GSD.
My comment about the small dog was not an opinion about whether or not a small dog could be a service dog. It just happened to be the type of dog I saw after I saw the new sign.
I am skeptical that this particular dog was an actual service dog, though, based on its behavior. The owner had the dog on an extension leash, about 10 feet behind her as she walked through the store. If it had been a large dog doing the same thing, I would also be skeptical.
I did find this information from a blog about service dogs, which I thought was interesting:
"The most commonly used breeds (and mixes) for service work are about 60 pounds in size. This is the size that has been shown to be the most successful in the largest number of applications or situations. However, there is no restriction as to whether a given dog might be a good service dog based only on size or breed. What matters is how effectively and reasonably he can execute his duties.
It is very unfortunate for owners of small breed service dogs that so many pet owners choose to pass off their small breed pets as service dogs. Unfortunately, when a dog is small enough to carry, it is far easier to disguise that dog's lack of training than when the dog has to walk on his own four paws and act like he knows what he's doing and this makes small dogs particularly appealing to fakers."
I suspect that folks who legitimately require an ESA or therapy animal won't be too inconvenienced....they already have this documentation and know the drill. They don't have to wrestle with avoiding the truth. I have needed to fly with non-traditional pets a number of times before, don't like paying almost another full fare for it, and have the same concerns about checking them into the baggage hold (guess I've been lucky...nothing bad ever happened). But, I would never use the excuse of a support animal to get out of it. That makes travel worse for those who already have challenges. If my animal can't travel safely in my carefully-prepared container or can't be contained at all, I have to face that myself, not dump the responsibility on others. I don't insist on taking my pets on non-essential flights for my own pleasure either. Most would be perfectly happy left home.
Actually, they do not have documentation as to specifically why the animal needs to be on the plane with them.
I’m not even sure people feel the need to get one of those online certificates anymore. So many people are bringing their animals (usually dogs) with them everywhere now that I think stores and other places put up with it.
I think airlines will have to regulate it because it’s such a cramped environment, and they’re already under a lot of scrutiny as it is.
Before 2015 or so I could count on one hand the number of animals I have seen on airplanes (out of what I have estimated to be hundreds of trips). Since 2015, I usually see at least one animal on a plane.
Most of the animals I have seen have been well behaved, but there have been some high profile cases of therapy animals injuring someone. Delta is likely introducing these new rules to prevent any more issues on their flights.
It’s unfortunate that people who legitimately require service or therapy dogs will have to be inconvenienced further. I also thought the "slippery slope" of the "this is my therapy boa constrictor, turkey, etc." is a little drastic. I just don’t see that really becoming an issue.
I have a relative who works in a large public library. She has had a library patron claim that their boa constrictor was a therapy animal. Also, someone came in with a "therapy parrot" and someone else had "therapy rats". And, many, many people bring in "therapy dogs" that mostly look suspiciously like pet dogs.
Last edited by germaine2626; 01-20-2018 at 07:23 PM..
My dog is going to be so jealous. I had promised him that he could come with us next time we fly.
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