Emotional support animals will no longer be considered service animals on flights

[vailpass]

Fair, and overdue, IMHO. My only concern is for military vets who need emo support animals for PTSD. Hopefully it will be made easy for them to get certified. No restrictions on breed, which is a little surprising.

Emotional support animals will no longer be considered service animals on flights, DOT decides

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that emotional support animals will no longer be considered service animals on flights, updating its final rule on the controversial travel topic.

DOT shared the news in a Wednesday news release, explaining that the revision to the Air Carrier Access Act followed over 15,000 comments on the proposal, which was first pitched in January.

“The final rule announced today addresses concerns raised by individuals with disabilities, airlines, flight attendants, airports, other aviation transportation stakeholders, and other members of the public, regarding service animals on aircraft,” the agency said.

Now, the DOT will define a service animal as "a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.”

While the DOT "no longer considers an emotional support animal to be a service animal,” the department will require airlines to “treat psychiatric service animals the same as other service animals.”

Moving forward, the department is allowing airlines to require DOT-approved forms affirming a service animal's health, behavior and training before travel, and allowing carriers to cap the number of service animals traveling with a single passenger at two.

In addition, the DOT has given airlines the OK to require a service animal to fit within its handler’s foot space on the airplane, and mandate that the animal be harnessed, leashed, or tethered at all times on the plane and within the airport during the travel journey.

The DOT further supports a carrier’s agency in refusing transport to service animals acting aggressively, while barring airlines from refusing to transport a service animal based on breed.

The subject of emotional support and service animals on airplanes was a major travel news topic of 2018, after an emotional support peacock named Dexter and his owner were denied boarding on a United Airlines flight. Months later, a French bulldog died in the high skies after being accidentally placed into an overhead bin by a United Airlines flight attendant for the duration of the trip. From there, emotional support cats, squirrels and hamsters continued to make headlines and spark debate.

Various carriers have since tightened the leash on their respective rules regarding the transportation of both emotional support and service animals; the DOT’s latest update will be a game changer for policy.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/dot-s...nimals-flights

[srvy]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

The problem with "service" animals is that it isn't tightly regulated.

You can get a smock online, slap it on your dog, and take it anywhere. Nobody can do anything about it for fear of the backlash.

SERVICE animals need to be trained and certified. That fixes the problem.

And chip the animals that they have been certified. Make the scanner affordable that any business can have one on hand. No chip no enter.

[Demonpenz]

I have an emotional dog who needs a cat around to help him but I only get calm from the dog.

[Lickerman]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I've done some work with the Puppy Jake Foundation - they train dogs for vets with PTSD.

You know a real service dog when you see one. They don't move, they don't speak, they don't do anything unless they need to. When the owner is sitting, they sit at their feet completely still and silent.

It's pretty easy to spot a fake service dog because they act like normal dogs.

My son suffers from severe depression. We had his dog trained to be a service dog. It wasn't cheap. But you are right. When her vest is on she is in work mode. She was trained to stay by his side and not seek attention from anyone else. If anyone tries to pet her my son politely lets them know she is working as a service dog right now. When you take the vest off she is a normal happy go lucky dog. The people who just slap a vest on and pay for a voucher give dogs like my sons a bad name.

[Pablo]

What's next? Taking away my emotional support pistol before I board the plane?

[Pablo]

But really though...what ever happened to taking an emotional support xanax and having six or seven emotional support drinks before you board the plane?

[backinblack]

I’ve never been allowed to take my emotional support bong with me on a plane

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Lickerman

My son suffers from severe depression. We had his dog trained to be a service dog. It wasn't cheap. But you are right. When her vest is on she is in work mode. She was trained to stay by his side and not seek attention from anyone else. If anyone tries to pet her my son politely lets them know she is working as a service dog right now. When you take the vest off she is a normal happy go lucky dog. The people who just slap a vest on and pay for a voucher give dogs like my sons a bad name.

Exactly.

BTW, for Puppy Jake, each dog costs about $20K when it is all said and done.

[Bob Dole]

This doesn’t seem very progressive. Sleepy Joe should use his magic pen ASAP!

[F150]

Good, nothing worse than being forced to sit by same asshats ****ing dog or cat. To hell with that. They can ride Greyhound for all I give a rip.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by Donger

No. I'm not a midget, and emotional support isn't exactly one of my strong suits.

What about my emotional support boxcutter? Why am I not allowed to bring that anymore?

[DanT]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Privacy laws are very important in California so there may be a court battle on the horizon. I don't fly as much as I did pre-kids and while I'd see people, generally females, with tiny dogs in their carry-on bags or even purses, I'd never had or seen a problem with animals on flights.

My biggest issue with flying now will be obtaining a Read ID. I just can't freaking believe that to fly, I'll need to either renew my passport or take my birth certificate and Social Security card to the DMV to apply and pay for a Read ID, just to travel domestically.

It's a load of horseshit.

I had a very easy time with the California DMV in February to get a Real ID driver license. I realize it depends on what branch office you are using, but making an appointment and making sure you bring the right documents makes it much less of a hassle.

I have two other Real IDs that I could use for traveling. One is a US Passport Card (https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...port/card.html). I got one of those when I renewed my Passport. The card is wallet sized and counts as a Real ID. As a passport, it's only good for land crossings to Mexico and Canada and some ports in Bermuda and the Caribbean.

Another Real ID is the Global Entry card, which is very useful to have, because it not only helps speed up re-entry into the country, but it also gives you TSA Precheck on domestic flights. (https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...s/global-entry) That one is a little bit more hassle to get, because you have to apply in person at specific locations, such as certain airports or Federal Office Buildings.

[Peter Gibbons]

Originally Posted by suzzer99

Am I supposed to take my pony on the train now?

There is a “my little pony” joke in here somewhere.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by F150

Good, nothing worse than being forced to sit by same asshats ****ing dog or cat. To hell with that. They can ride Greyhound for all I give a rip.

I'd prefer a dog or cat to an asshat any day.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by suzzer99

Am I supposed to take my pony on the train now?

Even with her pony there she looks pretty shook.

[Hoover]

Back in the day my German Shepherd was a certified therapy dog. Nobody was going to say a word about her. She was a fantastic dog. We got her certified to go visit nursing homes.