Benjamin Franklin’s views on turkeys:
For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison (to an eagle) a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.
If a turkey nips at you or otherwise appears unsafe then that is a legitimate concern. The crew would like nothing better than a reason to give the passenger the bird along with an invitation to leave.
I’m just glad the dog got a break from sitting on top of Donald’s head.
Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.
Oh my, someone didn’t have their morning coffee.
So then some of us could bring our spouse as an emotional support person, and they would fly for free?
Or better yet, maybe “kinkyescort” would fly for free?
Just dreaming.
Well I’m going with a support hooker if that’s the case.
Or, if there’s a really fat person taking up half my seat I’ll be needing it for an invisible rabbit named Paul.
What if the turkey started farting?
The aspect of this story that really shows how the world has descended into infantile madness is that it was covered in the Telegraph for gods’ sake, a paper that used to have a bit of dignity. Its recent descent into clickbait bullshit-mongering is a sad, sad fall from a (tweed-clad, slightly crusty) state of grace.
It is often used as an excuse to bring a dog onto a plane instead of having to pay to have it in baggage. But what problem is Adab Corolla trying to solve here? Is there an epidemic of fake service dogs causing problems on planes, or even fake service turkeys? The turkey behaved itself on the flight, there was a doctor’s note, the airline was fine with it, so what’s the news story here?
Also, I’d note that emotional support animals are not covered by federal law. The ADA only covers service animals who are trained to do tasks to help someone with a disability. “His presence calms me down” is not a task. So the abuse of using emotional support animals can be fixed simply by the business denying access. Only the disabled are guaranteed access with their service animals by law.
They are on commercial airlines. It’s a different law relating to airlines specifically, not the ADA.
Doctor’s note or not this has become bullshit. And it kinda was right from the start. I’m not going to deny the validity of so-called ‘service animals’ all together, but if you’re high enough on the ‘basket case’ scale that you truly have to have an animal with you to keep you from freaking out in public, well guess what? You can’t ride on a plane or go to a restaurant until you get cured Mrs. Nutball…
Well, at least your consistent with your lack of empathy.
All you’re doing is making the “PC police” stronger. They’re already trying to get “crazy” and “nuts” treated as slurs, and these sorts of contemptuous comments are why.
And I say that full well knowing that emotional service animals aren’t remotely a helpful treatment. But I have no right to belittle them. At least they are trying to interact with the world instead of withdrawing completely–becoming unseen and unheard as you would prefer.
Kudos, adaher. We may not see eye to eye on pretty much anything (though you did school me on rule of law vs rule of man), but you get it. Maybe this isn’t the best thing for the patient, but nothing bad happened. This isn’t anything to be upset about.
I don’t mind sitting next to a turkey – I’d find him or her charming.
But the authorities had better remove any sociopath who threatens to strangle to death someone else’s animal, and lock them in protective custody until a full psych eval can be scheduled. The last thing I need on a plane is another hostile, murderous busybody angry at the world.
Band name: Farting Turkeys! 
I find myself agreeing with you. In an ideal world, the turkey shouldn’t be on the plane. In that same ideal world everyone showers and uses deodorant before going out in public and small children are drugged and muzzled (or stowed in carriers with the luggage) on airplanes also. I would consider the turkey less of a potential problem than many human.
Back in the late 70s I once saw Greece on a plane. But come to think of it, I might not be recalling that exactly right.
Regardless of the current state of *‘everyone is entitled to absolutely everything everywhere no matter what’ *that is not true. Flying on a plane and eating in a restaurant are not civil rights, they are privileges. Privileges which merely require you to comply with a common sense version of the ‘social contract’. Having to go everywhere with a farm animal on your lap exceeds that. Just as if you said you could only be in public wearing just your underwear, or because you have Tourette’s Syndrome people simply have to accept you shouting “Nigger spic whore!!” in public every few minutes.
You don’t have to be locked away somewhere and there are certainly more opportunities to help people now more then ever before. But no, there are simply parts of polite society that you cannot participate in while having to use your disruptive coping technique.
You are not seeing the entertainment value.
“Look there is a turkey on the plane”?
Priceless!