"You gonna have those peanuts?"
Posted on 12/11/2018 9:08:04 AM PST by Simon Green
2018 is not a great year if you’re an emotional support animal. Southwest, American, Spirit, JetBlue and even Royal Caribbean have all clamped down on emotional support animals, but it’s Delta that has thrown down the hardest. Back in March, the airline began requiring that all passengers traveling with a support or service animal provide additional documents, outlining the need for the service animal as well as proof of the animal’s training and vaccinations, 48 hours prior to departure.
Several months later, it increased restrictions once more, limiting passengers to “one emotional support animal per flight” and forbidding “pit bull type” dogs altogether. This week, it’s taking yet another step by banning all emotional support animals on any flight longer than eight hours, while banning all emotional support animals under four months of age, regardless of flight length
Delta’s updated policy follows an “84% increase in reported incidents involving service and support animals” between 2016 and 2017, including “urination/defecation, biting and even a widely reported attack by a 70-pound dog.” Delta asserts that the “updated support and service animal age requirement aligns with the vaccination policy of the CDC, and the eight-hour flight limit for emotional support animals is consistent with the principles outlined in the US Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.”
The new limits take effect on Dec. 18, 2018, though customers with tickets purchased prior to Dec. 18, who have already requested to travel with an emotional support animal will be allowed to travel as originally ticketed. Regardless of booking date, emotional support animals will not be accepted on flights longer than eight hours on or after Feb. 1, 2019.
Earlier this year, the Association of Flight Attendants surveyed 5,000 flight attendants across 30 airlines on the impact of ESAs. The survey revealed that 61% of flight attendants said onboard emotional support animals have caused some sort of inflight disturbance, with more than half describing these disturbances as aggressive or threatening behavior by the animal.
Keep the mutts out of the hospital,too. I have seen them even in the ICU family room.
“Emotional support,” pooh! The owner just does not want to have to pay a kennel or get a n acquaintance to keep and board the animal while they are away. Love of money is the emotional issue involved, if any. They inflict the hotels and businesses with the same pain.
I'm with you.
there are other support animals besides seeing eye dogs but using the excuse that your pet is a support animal has become so common that something has to be done. My aunt would foster pups that were in training as support animals and these dogs get about a year of training before they are given to there owners they also will be replaced or retrained if they are not doing the job...am emotional support dog has no training. the designation is for the person not the animal.
“You mean I can’t take my SUPPORT HIPPO with me?”
no, but your support Wolverine or support Badger is probably OK ...
You know, it’s bad enough being packed onto aircraft like cattle, but I draw the line at wanting to fly with actual livestock. Actual trained support animals I’m OK with. The rest? Leave them at home or check them in in a crate.
hear,hear!!!
Entitled people will lose their entitled minds.
“But I’m special!!!”
If you have seizures, the last place you want to be is on an airplane. There is no hospital near one.
Not always. I’ve personally known vets who came back from war horribly injured and/or with serious emotional issues. For some of them, their support dogs have been a great help. There are groups now that specialize in dogs for vets:
https://neads.org/service-dog-programs/service-dogs-for-veterans/
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I’m sure that’s true, and I’m grateful for the dogs that support them, but soldiers can take a 4 hour flight without them and so can everyone else.
Lady had a emotional support dog ahead of me on my last flight from LAX to ATL. The dog barked nearly the entire time on a 5 hour flight. Me and my friends needed to hit a bar at Hartsfield to calm down when the flight landed. We called it our emotional support beers.
You posted a link for service dogs,this ban in for emotional support animals.
Service dogs are trained.
.
And of course these veterans are too distressed to have paperwork for their ‘support’ animals, right?
Like minorities are too distressed to get IDs?
Thank God. Now maybe stores will grow some balls and keep people from bringing their pets into stores.
I have 972 Emotional Support Snakes I wish to take on this plane.
He just takes what he wants! Oh look, he’s grunting. OOO look, he walks backwards....
Congress needs to end this service animal nonsense on airplanes, even for blind people.
If you need help, ask your fellow human.
"You gonna have those peanuts?"
I would bring a honey badger as an emotional support animal. So what if it tears flesh off of other passengers. My needs come first. Plus it don’t care.
I was responding to the thought that all emotional support dogs are ‘BS’; and to the idea that we should ‘only’ allow seeing-eye dogs. There are legitimate service dogs for people w;hose disabilities may not be obvious or even visible.
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