Sounds like you need to seek out another mode of travel; at this point you’re part of the problem subjecting the dog to this multiple times.
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So they hadn’t yet murdered the dog yet, as of the taking of the picture. That’s big improvement over their standard service.
United has a big problem with rain. I came home on the last flight of the day, arriving around 10pm. Eventually, we were told that the delay in baggage claim was because the baggage handlers don’t work when it’s raining.
Read that as many times as you need to.
And we weren’t told that much until midnight. By 2am, they finally told us all to go home and come back the next day, unless we had critical medications in the luggage. (One old man was wheeled out, unconscious.)
So that was a 30 mile trip each way, at my own expense, during a workday. And the handlers were extremely rude to those who had been inconvenienced both days.
So, don’t fly United? Or USAir? or whoever else they merge with before they go under completely?
The answer to most of the pet issues is to declare your pet a service animal. It’s a tiny bit of paperwork that the airline has to accept. I’ve seen people do this with all kinds of animals, many of which could not possibly be service animals.
Most people just do it so they can bring their pets into Starbucks and McDonald’s.
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Exactly. Which is why, years ago, I smuggled a puppy on-board.
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My dogs only travel by plane when there is no other option. Which, at this point in my life, means never.
…at this point you’re part of the problem subjecting the dog to this multiple times.
Expecting to get a reasonable service for my money makes me “part of the problem”? That took at least two foolish assumptions and some really fucked-up “logic” to get to that conclusion. Good for you. Using your imagination like that.
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Not defending the airlines at all but it’s not the rain but lightning that keeps ramp workers away during storms. This is true for just about any outdoor occupation (pool lifeguards, golf course marshals. etc.)
People who fraudulently register their pets as service animals are just as bad as able bodied people parking in handicapped spaces using another’s placard. It’s dishonest and makes it more difficult for those with legitimate service animals. Not to mention subjecting everyone else on the plane to unruly animals who bark, bite and defecate in the aisles.
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you mean my mother in law? (DUCKS FOR COVER)
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Of course, lifeguards etc, aren’t at a facility with radar which can detect the rain in advance. They (in normal circumstances) should have ample time to get pets and luggage out of the way before the storm hits.
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I imagine the qualifications for comfort animals are a bit looser than those for seeing eye dogs.
Sometimes it is hard to explain to non-pet owners what that animal means to you.
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They are not interchangeable, they are not invincible, and they are not cargo (any more than I am). 
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In 2003 I got a very large breed puppy who had to be check through in the maximum size kennel. I paid the airline for this, and they transported him from point A to point B. It was clearly traumatic for the puppy, and I could hear him barking desperately in the cargo hold for the whole trip. My only tiny consolation was that it sounded like he was directly below the First Class section.
He made it through that trip with no apparent (to me) mishaps, but my impression was that this is not a humane thing to do to animals, even when everything goes as right as it can. If I had it to do over again, I would rent a car and make a two-day car trip out of it, and I would be grateful for every extra minute I got to spend with that dog.
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Huh? You’re consoled by the notion that first class passengers were disturbed by your dog’s distress? That’s just weird.
This does not compare, as the amount of handicapped parking places is way more constrained resource than the amount of slots for service animals.
On the contrary it may make the life for them easier as the more of them, the more non-unusual, more streamlined their handling is.
And honesty my ass. It is a nonideal solution for a nonideal world.
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Also, a confession of a baggage handler.
So tormenting cute furry animals is probably a routine occurrence …
Service animals aren’t registered. A service animal is a service animal if you say it is. The only pushback you can get (legally) is for the business to ask you what service the animal provides. They can’t ask what condition you have or what training the animal has.
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Bastards.
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Agree about the lightning (though there was none - it was February in Philly) but the real problem was the refusal to communicate. They kept a planeload of people in the dark until 2am just to be dickholes.
Also agree that nobody wants to have more animals in the passenger compartment. I’m just saying (like another reader put it) that it’s a sad but necessary solution to a terrible situation.
Emotional Support Animals are not the same as Service Animals. And while there is currently no national registry for Service Animals, there is a generally recognized standard of trainin that define a genuine Service Animal versus a pet that has been deemed an Emotional Support Animal by their owner in order to avoid fees or other restrictions. There are lots of websites out there that will “certify” your pet for a nominal charge and provide a fake letter or certificate so you can take your pet with you into the cabin.
Remember that “[a]nimals whose sole function is to provide emotional
support, comfort, therapy, companionship, therapeutic benefits, or to
promote emotional well-being are not service animals…” so a service
animal must be specifically trained to DO something.
http://servicedogcentral.org/content/fake-service-dog-credentials
My objection to this “nonideal solution” is principally based on the fact that fake Service Animals can be disruptive to other passengers because they are not trained to behave properly in the confines of a small airplane cabin. It’s also just plain selfish to believe that the rules don’t apply to you.
I realize that some folks like to think that Precious is their child and that they should be allowed to take them everywhere but they are animals - you can love them like a child but they’re still animals and not everyone feels the same way that you do about them. If you can’t stand to see your pet crated then maybe you shouldn’t be flying.
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I love animals and I’m a pet owner but I also understand that animals are not humans. There are circumstances where it is necessary to restrict or prohibit their presence for safety and hygiene reasons as well as consideration for others. I would never even consider taking my animal into a restaurant or theater because those are situations where pets simply do not belong [legitimate service animals excepted].
We have a relative who loves her dogs and takes them everywhere. She was genuinely hurt when we told her that she couldn’t bring her dogs to our house for a holiday party. She honestly did not understand why we excluded them since she considers them her “children”.
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