I’m seeing a ton more “service animals” everywhere, including at airports. So many, in fact, that I’m starting to call bullsh!t on a lot of them. Not to their face, of course, but I sure do plainly size up the animal’s caretaker, looking to see if I can see a reason. I realize for emotional support, there might be no external features or evidence, but still. What’s up with the explosion of, as was said, purse-sized support Chihuahuas?
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Properly socialized service animals who can demonstrate specific functions which they are trained to perform for their owners should always be welcome.
The problem is that current USA law does not require that, and thus has been abused to allow all kinds of semi-controllable pets damn near everywhere.
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Absolutely. I think in practice these new guidelines aren’t meant to make actual service animal using passengers’ lives more difficult. If you’re visually impaired and walk up to the gate with your guide dog, they aren’t going to refuse you service because you didn’t provide a vet’s letter two days ago. But some lady who claims to need little yappy Foo Foo in her purse to relieve the stress of takeoff is going to need to prove that — and having been on multiple flights with bullshit “emotional support animals”, I am all in favor of it.
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I dunno, I literally just got off a Delta flight, and they didn’t say word 1 about my support snake in my trousers.
Or his friends.
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It is not so simple. I have a child with a service dog. The dog basically functions as an emotional support animal. Said child has a diagnosed anxiety disorder, including panic attacks, and the dog helps prevent or overcome that. On the other hand, he has received lengthy training from an organization that specializes in service dogs, including a lot of training on how to behave in public places and in public transport, and he has documentation of that. So … where does this fit in? He can’t demonstrate some special function he does very well. But he’s a service dog, as much as any one is.
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In related news United is changing its policy in the other direction: more dogs … or rather as their flight attendants will be saying about it, “Is there a volunteer or do we have to release the dogs ?”
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Right. Because the reasons have to be immediately visible to you.
(I get the point you’re trying to make here, but it’s wrong to make assumptions about someone’s needs just by looking at them.)
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I’m not an airline anything, but I think the documentation is the key. That would make the dog an official service animal, which is permitted under the new rules, and the airlines should accept that. But I’d check with the specific airline for their requirements before the flight, just in case. 
Best of luck to you and your family!
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Yep, you’re right, no argument.
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This whole thing is becoming an issue for landlords too. Pets can be rough on homes, and traditionally landlords have been able to set their own ground rules. Now with these online “certificates” anyone with a pet can try and leverage these laws create for people with real needs.
I love dogs but I live in a dense city and can hear dogs who bark continuously all day when they’re alone. The last thing I need is one in my building, and I should be able to make that choice.
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Legislation that was intended to help people with real disabilities gets leveraged by fraudsters. That’s nothing new, unfortunately.
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Here’s the 800 pound emotional support gorilla in the room:
Q17. Does the ADA require that service animals be certified as service animals?
A. No. Covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry.
Delete this regulation, and emotional support animals become a non problem.
This is what the same source says about that:
Q4. If someone’s dog calms them when having an anxiety attack, does this qualify it as a service animal?
A. It depends. The ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog’s mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA.
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According to the NBC news story I saw yesterday:
Delta, the second-largest U.S. airline by passenger traffic, will require passengers hoping to fly with animals to provide proof of their pet’s training and vaccinations 48 hours before they board. The owners of emotional support animals will need to offer a document, signed by a doctor or licensed mental health professional, verifying that their animal can behave.
The same article says, American Airlines is “looking into additional requirements.” I don’t know what the other airlines specify, but with sufficient documentation, service animals should be fine.
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There’s a lot of judgment being handed out in this thread…
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Yeah, a lot of nasty, judgmental people that would like us to return to the hellish days of … I guess, about ten years ago? when “snakes on a plane” was just a movie.
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Does it change from Mr Hyena to Doctor Jackal?
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Ha! That’s a great point I hadn’t considered. It seems that, unless you get really lucky it’s the dog that requires emotional support. Of course, I’m sure a lot of what I see is the dog mirroring the human’s psychoses.
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Get what you give with puppies… most times.
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