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This service dog thing is getting totally out of hand where I live. I see people all the time with dogs dressed in service dog get-ups taking them in restaurants, stores, and other public places where dogs are inappropriate. As someone who lives with a disabled person, I know that some people who require service dogs are not readily recognizable as in need for them. But if I see one more young person in party attire being "guided" into a restaurant by a cockapoo in a service dog halter, I think I'll scream. I saw a middle-aged woman in Costco the other day pick up her "service terrier" and carry it around the store, feeding it tidbits from the free food samples. I guess the pooch was tired and hungry? I find it impossible to believe that was a real service dog.
It's easy to buy material that identifies a dog a service dog over the internet without any prescriptions from a doctor and people are doing it so they can take their pets everywhere. If there isn't an official organization that registers service dogs and provides identification to separate real ones from fakes, there needs to be. This fad is harmful to people who really DO need service dogs.
I know actual real live people who are getting their dogs 'certified' so that they can fly them to their vacation destinations instead of having to drive or leave them at home.
The criteria are not stringent.
So not right.
Probably the same people who "borrow" grandma's handicap placard so they can park close to the stores when they go shopping.
This service dog thing is getting totally out of hand where I live. I see people all the time with dogs dressed in service dog get-ups taking them in restaurants, stores, and other public places where dogs are inappropriate. As someone who lives with a disabled person, I know that some people who require service dogs are not readily recognizable as in need for them. But if I see one more young person in party attire being "guided" into a restaurant by a cockapoo in a service dog halter, I think I'll scream. I saw a middle-aged woman in Costco the other day pick up her "service terrier" and carry it around the store, feeding it tidbits from the free food samples. I guess the pooch was tired and hungry? I find it impossible to believe that was a real service dog.
It's easy to buy material that identifies a dog a service dog over the internet without any prescriptions from a doctor and people are doing it so they can take their pets everywhere. If there isn't an official organization that registers service dogs and provides identification to separate real ones from fakes, there needs to be. This fad is harmful to people who really DO need service dogs.
I wonder if some of those folks have really "qualified" their cockapoos or chihuahuas as service dogs or if they just take them everywhere they go- in purses, or baby strollers ( which always makes me LOLOL when I see that) and assume no one will challenge them about taking the dogs into restaurants, and other public places. Because we see quite a few of those "companion dogs" in this neck of the woods, riding around in shopping carts, heads sticking out of bags or purses, or walking on leashes, and they aren't wearing service jackets.
They're probably getting them trained so they at least act like a service dog.
But yeah, you can go on ebay and get a service dog vest for less then $20.
But they aren't acting like the real service dogs when they bite people around them, poop on the floor, jump up on people, or refuse to settle down, and that's what the complaints are about these faux-service dogs.
Not sure where you are getting $125 each way. more like $25-50 each way, and if the dogs are small enough they let you put two in the carrier. The limit is two carriers per cabin segment.
It was like $75 each way to take the late great Five cat in-cabin in his carrier in the late 1990s on Northwest for domestic travel and I doubt the fee-happy airlines have done anything but raise that since then. Used to joke with the FAs that if it was going to be that much, then he should be able to get his own feline frequent flyer account.
My flight took a late the other day because some idiot got on the plane with a dog not in a carrier, claiming it was a service dog. The dog's behavior obviously proved it wasn't, right up to biting the agent who was trying to get a wheelchair customer into their seat.
The Captain threw the dog, it's owner, and the rest of the party off the plane. I can't believe how stupid some people are. What really ticks me off is that jerks like this make it more difficult with those who have a legitimate service dog.
Hopefully the agent files charges against the passenger. Then the passenger would have to provide documentation showing the dog really was a service animal.
It's important to note that real service animals... such as Guide Dogs for the Blind, are individually trained to perform specific tasks in support of a disabled person, and are NOT pets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jkgourmet
I'm not sure what you mean by "they are wasting their money for two reasons." But you need to remember that airlines charge extra to bring little FiFi in her carrier that gets put under the seat, usually $125 each way. And they limit the number of dogs allowed on the plane, too.
Personally, I think those are the reasons why so many people do this BS calling their pet a 'service dog.' Insulting to the great work that service, police and soldier dogs do for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk
Not sure where you are getting $125 each way. more like $25-50 each way, and if the dogs are small enough they let you put two in the carrier. The limit is two carriers per cabin segment.
Alaska Airlines currently charges $100 per dog or cat, and their limit is 1 in First Class and 5 in the Main Cabin. They must be kept in their underseat carriers for the entire flight. Bona fide service animals fly free, and are not restricted to carriers, so a lot of people try to cheat on the rules by calling their pet a "therapy animal," or a "comfort animal" but they are not service animals. They also have no special access to restaurants, grocery stores, or other food prep areas. This is Federal Law.
Knowing of the problems they create for actual service dog owners, I have absolutely no inhibition about busting the phonies when they bring Poochy into a restaurant or wherever. And laissez faire managers become surprisingly supportive when i remind them that they can receive a Health Code violation for allowing animals other than bona fide Service Animals into their establishments.
Hopefully the agent files charges against the passenger. Then the passenger would have to provide documentation showing the dog really was a service animal.
Isn't there some kind of documentation asserting that indeed the dog is a service dog that the airlines can demand to see to prevent idiots from doing this?
At the very least, there is a coat or blanket that says "Service Dog" or "Service Animal". If they are not wearing that then they are not a service animal legally.
I would much rather put up with a dog on a plane (or in a restaurant, store or anyplace, really) than a screaming infant or a bratty kid.
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