Should people be able to take 'support' animals everywhere?

[Chrystal-J]

I was curious about taking every kind of support animals due to other people's allergies:

Woman has allergic reaction to dog on plane at Oakland Airport
(From the article):
If you traveled by air over the holidays you may have noticed some furry passengers getting on planes.

This past Thursday at Oakland International Airport, Erskine Patton was a passenger on Alaska Airlines flight 335 to Seattle.

"As I was boarding I noticed that a woman was breathing uneasily," said Patton.

That passenger seated near a dog was having an asthma attack. Airport Ops called for help.

"I was just concerned for this woman," said Patton.

Patton tweeted "@AlaskaAir "Why are dogs allowed on board when allergy risk is possible? We don't know the status of this poor woman and many passengers will miss their connections."

@AlaskaAir tweeted back, "Oh no! Unfortunately, we simply cannot guarantee animals will not be on board as many are service animals."

 

[muichimotsu]

It's a losing situation either way, not that airlines are doing that great with their reputation anyway. If I traveled and needed a support animal, there are reasonable constraints on it, but the problem is that support animals technically aren't considered on the same level as seeing eye dogs or such, because they're specifically trained, while support animals seem to vary on whether that's the case or not.

In contrast, you have dogs not only trained for blind people, but stuff like diabetics (I think I've seen them at conventions occasionally) or other medical conditions of that nature, that falls under ADA protections in terms of the broadest possible coverage possible, but the likelihood is also going to be statistically uncertain about severity of allergies, etc.

We have cats and are also allergic, we just take an Allegra 1/day and it keeps the symptoms in check

 

[thecolorsblend]

I don't want to take my wife out to a fancy pants dinner in some fancy pants restaurant only to have some maladjusted green-haired 20-something feminist's support parakeet squawking in my ear all night.

I'll make exception for military veterans but everybody else should keep their pets at home.

 

[muichimotsu]

I don't want to take my wife out to a fancy pants dinner in some fancy pants restaurant only to have some maladjusted green-haired 20-something feminist's support parakeet squawking in my ear all night.

I'll make exception for military veterans but everybody else should keep their pets at home.

Support animal and pet, while overlapping categories to a degree, would serve different functions given the latter's meant to help a person with severe anxiety and such, while, yeah, bringing your pet just because is being a bit obnoxious.

A military veteran would hardly be the only person that would fall under reasonably requiring a support animal because of PTSD and similar problems, giving them special treatment is ignoring that people suffer in general, their service in the military or lack thereof is hardly a qualifier in terms of being considerate to their invisible disabilities

Not sure it's fair to suggest that the support animal will just misbehave necessarily rather than because of other circumstances, but it is a reasonable concern (not sure if that particular characterization of the hypothetical owner was required to get the point across)

 

[Chrystal-J]

I personally think the support animal movement is getting out of hand.
The Crazy List of Animals People Have Tried to Bring on Airplanes for Emotional Support
This includes a large pig, penguins and a pet turkey to name a few.

 

[thecolorsblend]

A military veteran would hardly be the only person that would fall under reasonably requiring a support animal because of PTSD and similar problems, giving them special treatment is ignoring that people suffer in general, their service in the military or lack thereof is hardly a qualifier in terms of being considerate to their invisible disabilities

You're missing it.

Nobody is able to show me in a straight line why the entirety of society has to make accommodations for every single possible handicap and mental disorder that only the narrowest sliver of the population suffers from.

As was implied in my post, I am prepared to make certain accommodations for people who have worn military uniforms and fought in wars on the grounds that my country owes them a tremendous amount of latitude and flexibility.

That is a courtesy that I refuse to extend to the civilians similar to the one I described in my post.

(not sure if that particular characterization of the hypothetical owner was required to get the point across)

This forum prohibits the usage of profane language so that more grounded description seemed like a good compromise.

 

[Chrystal-J]

I don't want to take my wife out to a fancy pants dinner in some fancy pants restaurant only to have some maladjusted green-haired 20-something feminist's support parakeet squawking in my ear all night.

I wouldn't want an animal in a restaurant either.

 

[GACfan]

My daughter has an emotional support dog that has saved her life on more than one occasion. She has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and she also suffers from Bipolar 2 Disorder. The dog has been trained to stay with my daughter when she has a maniac episode. The dog has also been trained to go get my daughter's medicine and bring the medicine to her. She has taken her dog on flights before and her dog helped her when she had a severe panic attack in mid-flight. She takes her dog everywhere.

 

[Chrystal-J]

My daughter has an emotional support dog that has saved her life on more than one occasion. She has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and she also suffers from Bipolar 2 Disorder. The dog has been trained to stay with my daughter when she has a maniac episode. The dog has also been trained to go get my daughter's medicine and bring the medicine to her. She has taken her dog on flights before and her dog helped her when she had a severe panic attack in mid-flight. She takes her dog everywhere.

I wouldn't mind a well trained dog--like with the blind. I would just freak out over a 'support' snake or tarantula.

 

[muichimotsu]

Nobody is able to show me in a straight line why the entirety of society has to make accommodations for every single possible handicap and mental disorder that only the narrowest sliver of the population suffers from.

As was implied in my post, I am prepared to make certain accommodations for people who have worn military uniforms and fought in wars on the grounds that my country owes them a tremendous amount of latitude and flexibility.

That is a courtesy that I refuse to extend to the civilians similar to the one I described in my post.

The difference is purely coincidental rather than actually considering the nature of the issue itself, which I'm not claiming are all equal. And I mentioned invisible disabilities to be more specific, I can't imagine we wouldn't agree that the ADA in terms of pretty obvious disabilities (blindness, differently-abled from paraplegia, etc), but invisible disabilities still matter in some degree of consideration, even if it isn't to the hyperbolic exaggeration seem to suggest would be done for everyone as an "accommodation" (your word, not mine)

This forum prohibits the usage of profane language so that more grounded description seemed like a good compromise

A compromise because you apparently can't just speak in a civil tone?

 

[muichimotsu]

I wouldn't mind a well trained dog--like with the blind. I would just freak out over a 'support' snake or tarantula.

They're not for everyone, that's part of the reason: also, not sure how easily trained snakes and spiders are...heck, we haven't really trained our cats and they're supposedly more capable of that

 

[muichimotsu]

My daughter has an emotional support dog that has saved her life on more than one occasion. She has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and she also suffers from Bipolar 2 Disorder. The dog has been trained to stay with my daughter when she has a maniac episode. The dog has also been trained to go get my daughter's medicine and bring the medicine to her. She has taken her dog on flights before and her dog helped her when she had a severe panic attack in mid-flight. She takes her dog everywhere.

That sounds more like a service animal in that it's trained, versus mere emotional support, which is usually based more in its mere presence, prescribed by a mental health professional

 

[muichimotsu]

I personally think the support animal movement is getting out of hand.
The Crazy List of Animals People Have Tried to Bring on Airplanes for Emotional Support
This includes a large pig, penguins and a pet turkey to name a few.

The misuse does not mean there isn't a proper use, it's a matter of having discussions in proper constraints and considering it in contrast to service animals, even if there may be slight overlap

 

[Sketcher]

I don't want to take my wife out to a fancy pants dinner in some fancy pants restaurant only to have some maladjusted green-haired 20-something feminist's support parakeet squawking in my ear all night.

I'll make exception for military veterans but everybody else should keep their pets at home.

The church I went to growing up had a blind man, a civilian, with a seeing-eye dog. You wouldn't want a man like that to come to your church?

 

[muichimotsu]

The church I went to growing up had a blind man, a civilian, with a seeing-eye dog. You wouldn't want a man like that to come to your church?

It's almost they don't realize they're still being ableist in encouraging favoritism to certain disabled people based on jingoistic ideologies...weird.

 

[Tigger45]

I love dogs and can understand in ‘some’ cases a support animal is needed but it has gotten out of hand thinking many are just taking advantage of the situation. No a complete stranger can’t make a fair assessment on a limited public encounter but there needs to be declarative guidelines for issuing the proper certification.

 

[GACfan]

That sounds more like a service animal in that it's trained, versus mere emotional support, which is usually based more in its mere presence, prescribed by a mental health professional

My daughter's dog was prescribed by her psychologist and I helped with the training of her dog.

 

[Arcangl86]

There is a difference between a service animal, almost always a dog but sometimes a mini horse, which is trained to perform a certain task and emotional support animals which are much closer to pets. Most places ban ESA but are legally barred from banning service animals.

 

[muichimotsu]

There is a difference between a service animal, almost always a dog but sometimes a mini horse, which is trained to perform a certain task and emotional support animals which are much closer to pets. Most places ban ESA but are legally barred from banning service animals.

A pet doesn't necessarily have the function that is supposedly determine with a psychological professional, though it can bring happiness to one's life, but there is at least some specificity in the title versus a pet being something you own for various purposes.

 

[Arcangl86]

A pet doesn't necessarily have the function that is supposedly determine with a psychological professional, though it can bring happiness to one's life, but there is at least some specificity in the title versus a pet being something you own for various purposes.

Actually a lot of times ESAs are completely untrained, which is a large part of why they aren't considered service animals.