OK. The only non-human I’ve ever taken on a plane was a cat; and there was no way we were letting the cats out of the carriers in the airport. It does make sense that dogs, used to being on leash and usually more used to varied situations, might sometimes be on leash instead.
Yeah I would not have liked that at all. I do not like dogs, I am allergic to them and do not wish to interact unnecessarily with people on planes let alone animals.
I get a certain kind of claustrophobia on most flights and it takes most of mental energy just to exist for the most part. Despite flying multiple times each year. It’s just something I have to deal with.
Late 90s. Southwest Airlines. Late evening flight. Not many passengers.
I agree, I thought it was strange and possibly illegal.
But, yeah. It happened.
This. I’ve never seen a dog that purporting to be an actual service dog misbehaving. I have seen lots of dogs in stores that have “service dogs only” signs on the doors. Most of the dogs I see in stores are riding in the child seat portion of someone’s shopping cart. The vast majority of the time, they are small dogs, not wearing a vest or anything to suggest that they should be considered a service dog. No one is asking the owner anything at all, usually.
Once I saw someone with a dog, entering a store, and an employee asked “is that?–” and she cut the guy off, saying, “yes, she’s a companion animal.” Which means she just expressly said it was just a pet. He just nodded and let her continue. Even if she was intending to convey that it was an emotional support dog, in my state they have no more right to be in a store than a pet.
The stores etc. aren’t interested in policing it. They aren’t enforcing the existing rules.
Yep. Seen this kind of situation s few times.
These people are flaunting the rules in their favor.
They don’t get stopped.
The store employees are afraid or maybe instructed not to question the person.
So if the policy doesn’t matter, why have one?
I’m not gonna police it. The store is not gonna police it.
The wrong person is gonna see it happen and lose their good sense. I can just imagine the scene.
All because people think they can just pass these animals off as service animals.
Leave your dog home.
If you’re blind or handicapped yes bring the trained dog to assist you. A companion dog does the not quality. IMO
Any way, you’re missing out on all the homecoming greeting fun and loves when you get home if you take your dog everywhere.
I mean, that’s the thing. The employee did ask, and she gave a wrong answer. The stores are not, in my opinion, interested in policing this. They don’t want to confront customers. This woman didn’t even try. I think it’s pretty funny that anyone thinks certification would suddenly motivate these establishments to train their employees and instruct them to confront customers with dogs to check their certification. How will that make the business money?
And even if they do train their employees and instruct them to confront the people, if they just ignore the employee or present fake certification, why would those interactions be any different from what we see now?
ETA: The main thing I see happening if certification is required is that people won’t be able to train their own dogs or use a trainer other than one of the big outfits that do that.
That’s correct.