# No, your pet monitor lizard/kinkajoo/boa constrictor/etc. is not a service animal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037 "2020-12-02T19:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/21 "2020-12-03T20:28:51Z")
The airlines were trapped. The ADA prohibited doing anything about any animal, almost no matter how outrageous. If it wasn’t actively biting people, our hands were tied. And ADA further prohibited the airlines from asking for any proof of anything. So of course your precious pet can fly for free when you tell us it’s an ESA; pets we could charge for, ESA’s must be accomodated for free. The industry lobbying organization and the industry labor unions has been pleading with and battling with HHS, DOT, FTC, & FAA about this for years. Trying to get the problem to be viewed as important enough for these agencies to stop turf-warring, blind-eyeing, and work together for once to craft a solution that works for the honest passengers, not the entitled liars. What you all are just learning about is the product of several _years_ of concentrated lobbying and in depth intergovernmental negotiation. This was not some wild hair idea some Deputy Undersecretary of Pointless Rules came up with last Tuesday while bored on a Zoom call. Until DOT stepped up and said “We and HHS have reached an agreement to carve a small hole in the ADA that addresses the issue of pets and ESA’s mislabeled as ‘service animals’ on airliners.”, there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about this friggin’ mess. Why yes, I’m really frustrated with how long this took and how partial the “solution” is. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/22 "2020-12-03T20:42:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Why yes, I’m really frustrated with how long this took and how partial the “solution” is. I really wish there were some way to verify that a service animal really is a service animal \* but is that the only way in which you see the solution as “partial” , or is there something else? - although in my particular experience, people who try to sneak pets in as service animals do a very poor job of it ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/23 "2020-12-03T22:11:10Z")
How long will it take for someone to sue? And how long will it be tied up in courts. Get Giuliano on it pronto. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/24 "2020-12-03T23:03:29Z")
@Hari_Seldon Giuliani is Trump’s ESA. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/25 "2020-12-03T23:36:49Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I find it bizarre that the ADA says you can’t ask for documentation. Why would anyone with a disability who has a genuine service dog support such a policy? It’s obviously massively abused by people who want to take their pets with them to inappropriate places, and undermines public approval for genuine animals. We’ve trained guide dogs, and so has my daughter. Real service dogs come with documentation. My daughter has taken her dogs on airplanes many times. They are trained to lie under the seat - the dorm at Guide Dogs for the Blind has a mockup airplane cabin for practice. People with real service dogs won’t mind showing their documentation at all. I think those of us who have done the work in training dogs hate this emotional support crap more than the average person. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/26 "2020-12-03T23:41:00Z")
This is great news. The difference between a service dog and a fake emotional support animal, e.g. pet, is that service dogs who aren’t up to the rigorous demands of being a service dog get what they call career changed. A dog in training who shows the slightest hostility to anything gets career changed right away. It helps that the dogs we trained are bred from many generations of the best service dogs. I went to a guide dog puppy get together. Over 100 dogs there, with their partners, and none of them barked. Let’s see your emotional support animal do that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/27 "2020-12-04T03:08:03Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I have direct experience physically managing my severely disabled sister and sometimes the correct choice is “well, that is something we really can’t do”. You sound like the voice of reason to me. Sometimes, ‘No’ is an appropriate answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/28 "2020-12-04T03:10:52Z")
I did have a ‘service dog’ moment tonight that made me think twice about all this. Or maybe it was a coincicence. Anyway. I can post about it. Violoates rules and stuff ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/29 "2021-01-05T20:34:31Z")
[Dr. Weird] It begins! [/Dr. Weird] [Alaska Airlines: Traveling with service or emotional support animals](https://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/accessible-services/specialservices-support-animals) > [@](#): > > **IMPORTANT CHANGES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 11, 2021** > > Alaska Airlines has adopted a new policy on the transport of service animals, following substantial changes to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) rules on the topic. > > Effective January 11, 2021, Alaska will accept only service dogs which are trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability. Emotional support animals will no longer be accepted. > > Alaska will continue to accept emotional support animals under our current policy for reservations booked prior to January 11, 2021, for flights on or before February 28, 2021. No emotional support animals will be transported after February 28, 2021. > > Review this entire page carefully to understand the requirements that are applicable to your travel. 😃 Also: > **[American Airlines is grounding emotional-support animals](https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-emotional-support-pets-42c8c5dbd6014ff31fe232abc7e5bd1f)** > > DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines is banning emotional-support animals in a move that will force most owners to pay extra if they want their pets to travel with them. > [@](#): > > The move follows a similar decision by Alaska Airlines and is likely to be copied by other carriers. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a3/68/18/a36818faa390b23ac8359edd69889cc7.gif) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a3/68/18/a36818faa390b23ac8359edd69889cc7.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/30 "2021-01-05T20:37:34Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Considering how regulated in favor of the carriers, and against the passenger, that the airline industry is, I always found it puzzling that people got away with this service animal/pet scam as long as they did. If airlines could get away with denying boarding based on what someone is wearing, surely they could have easily denied boarding to anyone with an animal of any kind, yah? This is part of America’s corporate “the customer is always right” culture problem. The business (airline) is so afraid of the PR blowback from a hissy and tantrum-throwing customer who posts on social media, “The airline DENIED me my licensed emotional support animal!” that they just cave in. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/31 "2021-01-05T21:50:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Why would anyone with a disability who has a genuine service dog support such a policy? Because they may not want to share the details of their personal medical and psychological issues with everyone and then defend the challenges that will follow when the asker deems their answer insufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/32 "2021-01-05T22:02:34Z")
I’m talking about licensing and documentation for trained _bona fide_ service animals, not their owners. Why would anyone _with_ a genuine trained service animal oppose the idea that documentation should be required, so that _fake_ service animals don’t abuse the system? By your reasoning, we should not have disabled badges to authorize parking in disabled spaces. We should just trust that anyone who parks there is entitled to be there. How do you think that would work out? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/33 "2021-01-06T00:52:09Z")
In a survey of one, the legally blind woman in my building with a properly trained guide dog despises the yappy pets-disguised-as-emotional-support-animals entirely due to all the extra shit she and her dog have to put up with from businesses tired of dealing with yappy pets underfoot in areas pets are prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Portlandia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@Portlandia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Portlandia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/34 "2021-01-08T18:25:46Z")
Because it is price prohibitive to lower income Americans. A disabled person can adopt and train their own service animal without having to jump through hoops and massive red tape. Don’t forget that a person with an unruly “service animal” can be kicked out if their animal does not behave as a real service animal would. The reason disabled parking spots require documentation is because there are limited spaces and should be saved for those that actually need it. Having a service animal doesn’t take away from another person that has a service animal. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/35 "2021-01-08T18:32:16Z")
> [@Portlandia](#): > > A disabled person can adopt and train their own service animal without having to jump through hoops and massive red tape. People can train them any way they choose. The animals could then be assessed for licensing to some minimal standard of behavior, with no charge. > [@Portlandia](#): > > Having a service animal doesn’t take away from another person that has a service animal. Passing off an untrained pet as a trained service animal in places where - for good reason - animals are not usually permitted most certainly does have an impact on other people. > [@Portlandia](#): > > Don’t forget that a person with an unruly “service animal” can be kicked out if their animal does not behave as a real service animal would. In my experience, this is not the case. Business are _extremely_ reluctant to take action against poorly behaved animals that their own _claim_ are service animals because of the ridiculous way the ADA is written. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/36 "2021-01-08T20:07:32Z")
You are correct that having a service animal doesn’t take away from other people having service animals. But it’s also true that disabled parking placards/hangtags are not always for parking in designated disabled spots - in my city, there are few disabled street parking spaces, but those placards exempt the holders from paying for the meter, from time limits and from obeying street cleaning rules. Those placards require documentation not because disabled parking spaces are limited but because we don’t want to give one to every person who decides to say “I need a disabled placard” It’s a similar situation with service animals - I am 100% fine with someone training their own animal. But I don’t want the current situation, where a business owner can only ask two questions 1. Is the dog a service animal required due to a disability and 2. what service does the dog perform? Because right now there is nothing to stop me from claiming that my pet is in fact a service animal trained to detect when my blood sugar is dropping - even if neither of those things is true and I am not even diabetic. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/37 "2021-01-08T20:13:55Z")
Ms. P told me of a situation where someone wanted to bring an emotional support rooster to class. ---
**Author:** ![Portlandia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@Portlandia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Portlandia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/38 "2021-01-09T17:18:26Z")
I believe these types of stories are rare, but the media places a huge spotlight on these fringe cases because it’s not sexy to write about how people are actually benefiting from these animals. ---
**Author:** ![Portlandia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@Portlandia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Portlandia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/39 "2021-01-09T17:25:26Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > People can train them any way they choose. The animals could then be assessed for licensing to some minimal standard of behavior, with no charge. This is just another roadblock and and a way to deny access to those that are most vulnerable. Why don’t we all get a voting ID so that we can “stop the steal”? Examples of fraud are rare and the majority of people do not commit fraud in order to have an assistance animal or vote. > [@Riemann](#): > > Passing off an untrained pet as a trained service animal in places where - for good reason - animals are not usually permitted most certainly does have an impact on other people. I agree with this sentiment and I wrote that businesses can and should remove unruly “service animals”. > [@Riemann](#): > > In my experience, this is not the case. Business are _extremely_ reluctant to take action against poorly behaved animals that their own _claim_ are service animals because of the ridiculous way the ADA is written. This is purely anecdotal. How many times have you seen this happen? Maybe once, twice, thrice even? Yet it sticks in your brain as the majority of your experiences. How many times have you not noticed the well behaved animal by their owner’s side? Probably a lot more, but you don’t count them in your head. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037/40 "2021-01-09T17:34:02Z")
> [@Portlandia](#): > > This is purely anecdotal. How many times have you seen this happen? Maybe once, twice, thrice even? Yet it sticks in your brain as the majority of your experiences. How many times have you not noticed the well behaved animal by their owner’s side? Probably a lot more, but you don’t count them in your head. You seem to think you know an awful lot about what other people see and think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-pet-monitor-lizard-kinkajoo-boa-constrictor-etc-is-not-a-service-animal/927037.md?page=3)