I’m sure they don’t want to put it in as cargo because of the bazillion horror stories about lost/misdirected/maltreated/ended up dead dogs in cargo.
Personally, I consider it exactly as bad as when my fully able neighbor uses her father’s car, complete with handicapped parking placard, to park in a handicapped space. If you’ve got a real need, fine. There’s NOTHING in the OP that says they have any sort of medical need, be it physical, mental, or emotional, to have the dog with them - it seems like they want to purely do it for the dog’s benefit. Lying to their doctor, or asking their doctor to lie for them, is not a valid solution to that.
Note: I’m not in any way slagging on the OP - they’ve got a simple GQ question about whether it’s possible to bring their dog in the cabin with them. I’m annoyed at the posters who seem to think committing an act of fraud to do so is a reasonable FQ response.
+1 on falsely claiming service animal or emotional support dog–(“hey, it would feel better–really–if I had my dog with me rather than in a crate,” “hey, it’s always nice emotionally to have my dog around, maybe even in my lap”)–follow the always-applicable rule in life: don’t be an asshole.
I’ve travelled domestically and internationally with my service beast (a dog), and mirabile dictu felt sympathy for the airlines, who are doing the decent thing. Yes, they’re doing it because of the law, but unlike so many business establishments bend over backwards to be accommodating.
On this, and to add to the comments above on absolutely checking with the airline about dogs and carriers, *there is no universal standard * on what that size is. Obvious as that is considering you don’t know which aircraft you’ll be on, you might see claims/ads for dog carriers claiming so. But, e.g., USAir’s size is 1"x1" different than Delta’s, which some ads say is “universally approved.” For both these airlines, at any rate, there exist “officially approved” bags to stuff your pooch into. They’ve got their logo all over them; undoubtedly a neat merchandising deal (i.e., you could find a bag matching their specs without their branding) but saving a lot of headache at check-in and worth the hassle to buy simply for that.
“I’m going to Disney and don’t really want to do a lot of walking. There’s no medical or psychological reason why; I’m just not really in the mood to deal with it. Any suggestions?”
“Sure! Get your doctor to write you a prescription for a wheelchair; you can get one from Guest Services, and no one will be able to give you a hard time about it!”
That, watchwolf, is what you’re proposing. If you wouldn’t make that suggestion to someone, you shouldn’t make the SA suggestion.
Whatever lie serves the purpose. Do you suppose the airline has never twisted the truth or been deceptive when it serves their purposes?
I made no previous representation that a lie should be told. I just quoted the ADA regulation. The OP can do what he pleases, in conformity with the ADA rules and regs.
Even if this made any ethical sense per se, you really can’t think of any other interested parties here aside from people who want to take any pet on an airplane at will, and the airline?
[anecdote]
I can’t remember how many times strangers see my dog’s vest and come up to me, and I catch that glimmer of scamming possibility in their eye when and ask me, “so how do you get a service dog license?”
My answer: “First, get sick.”
We looked into flying our two Danes cross-country when we moved. It was basically, “Ya can’t get there from here!” but both I and the United cargo agent were in hysterics by the time we worked through the nonfeasible options.
(Punch line, after constructing a very complicated and expensive possibility: “…and that’s for *one *of them, because two would exceed the live cargo oxygen limit.”)
But the thought of my crazy Harlequin boy in the main cabin was fun.
So you’re not advocating fraud, you’re just pointing out the loopholes in the law that would allow them to commit fraud.
And lets look at the regulation from the Air Carrier Access Act:
So yes, the airline would be legally able to refuse a service animal in the absence of any of that evidence. So someone without an actual disability would indeed have to obtain documentation or lie to the airline in order to bring their dog aboard as a service animal.
As mentioned by a few early posters (and not to derail everybody’s fun, arguing back and forth about service animals etc.) I too am curious how the OP visualized having their dog in the cabin. Loose and underfoot? Buckled and strapped to the seat?
Yes, there are seat belt adapters for dogs (for car safety) but was that really what you had in mind?
The first sentence describes a brand of ethics I reject, despite the disclaimer in the second sentence. But it has the virtue of clarifying your position.
Riemann’s comment is also relevant, flying on a plane is not a binary relationship between you and an airline, but I’d reject the reasoning, ‘it’s OK for me to lie because other people sometimes lie’, even if it was dealing with an executive jet charterer and we and our dog the only passengers.
Actually I’m pretty sure our dog could be an excellent airline passenger: virtually absolutely does not bark indoors alone or in human company, house training behavior excellent, placid in a moving car even on bumpy or windy roads so I’d assume similarly on a plane, short haired and doesn’t shed much. But we’d have to lie to say she’s a service dog. And things would go south in a hurry if there were any other dogs on the plane. 
I guess I might soften my stance if the doggie were dressed up in a little suit and tie and a monocle, sat upright people-style, and slurped a gin and tonic.
Or it could play poker with the other dogs on the plane.
This is my take as a citizen. Well said.
As an airline industry person …
We see an increasing tide of pets labeled as service dogs to exploit the Federal rules for individual convenience at the expense of our other customers. This post tells a story we see rather frequently: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18267092&postcount=67
Airline passengering is very much a group activity. There are few other consumerish things an ordinary consumer does where their every action or inaction has such a direct and immediate effect on their fellow customers. “You can have it your way” may work OK at Burger King (at least at off-peak times), but it really doesn’t work well in tightly packed group events involving strangers.
Each carrier’s rules walk the tightrope between the ACAA, providing good service to the special needs public, providing good service to the vastly more numerous non-special needs public, and avoiding viral public shaming by activists and attention seekers on both sides. Modulo each carrier’s legal department and it’s appetite for risk.
I’d wager people leaving their pets in kennels back home kills more pets than the airlines do transporting them as cargo when passengers decide to avoid the kennels.
IOW risk is everywhere; people are especially prone to overestimating novel risks while dismissing ordinary risks. IMO by far the most dangerous thing people do with pets is take them in the car everywhere the people go. Car accidents are not friendly to unbelted pets. But you’d sure never get your typical pet owner to consider bringing Fluffy along on errands to be “pet abuse”.
Suppose I’m very allergic to dogs. Do I have any rights to insist that the dog not be near me? What if I’m emotionally traumatized due to an incident involving a dog as a child. Can I get a disability wavier from my doctor that says no dogs can be on a plane with me?
This is a fascinating topic in general as to sociology and (even) personal ethics, the stated topic of much of the preceding.
Other group situations and changed personal ethics such as individual behavior in crowds–other kinds of crowds–is pretty well understood as a topic even by non-academics.
But everyday airline situations, I can only think of one, other than not-normal post-crash events, when your observation rose to intense, almost universally–in USA, certainly–acknowledged everyday awareness since 9/11 United 93; otherwise, not so much–hence your post.
ADA does not apply to commercial air travel. Commercial air travel accessibility is governed under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA, 14 CFR 382). Under the ACAA, all domestic and international flights with the US as its destination or origination are required to provide certain accommodations, free of charge, to people with disabilities in a way consistent with providing safe travel for all passengers.
I’ve sat next to individuals that had larger service animals on the plane with them. Generally the dog sat on the floor between their owner’s knees. In one case the dog was a glucose smelling dog for a guy with severe diabetes. His dog regularly smelled his breath and would alert him if his glucose levels were out of range. Pretty cool dog. Costs about $50k to have him trained.
Most of the other instances were emotional support dogs (i.e. I don’t want to travel without my pet). These dogs were also well behaved and caused no problems.
Thank you for clarifying that.
Make the trip a driving vacation, or look into the cost of private charter flight.
An old neighbor of ours flew with their dog in an acquaintance’s plane. But the pilot wasn’t licensed or insured for commercial flight. They agreed on fee and they paid cash prior to arriving at the airport.