When pets (pigs, too!) fly, their owners can go too far
Most Americans love pets, especially dogs. But probably not when they’re forced to share legroom with a golden retriever on a packed airline flight. Or their seatmate turns out to be a big brown pig who defecates in the aisle. Or when a little dog sitting on a nearby lap barks incessantly.
All are tales from the brave new world of “emotional support animals” flying on airliners with their humans. Since the Transportation Department updated its guidance in 2003, granting these ESAs similar treatment to “service animals,” airline gates have swung open to an ever-increasing torrent. Once upon a time, you seldom encountered a chicken, a tortoise or a pig on a plane. Not anymore.
Their proliferation also coincides with the growth of an online industry that will connect pet owners, by phone or Skype, with a mental health professional who can provide a letter certifying that you have a mental health disability and need your “emotional support” animal with you. Under government guidance, airlines, with rare exception, must accommodate such animals for free.
Don’t get us wrong. Traditional service animals that carry out a task for people with disabilities, such as dogs that guide blind people, should be allowed on board without charge, as federal law requires. So should animals that help people with less visible disabilities, such as sensing an oncoming epileptic seizure or soothing a veteran with posttraumatic stress syndrome.
These animals are generally well-mannered, trained to sit quietly and not to defecate indoors — good rules for anyone to fly by.
But it is hard to see the same legitimacy in the explosion of people who claim such dire mental health needs that they must bring “emotional support” livestock. Especially when you consider another motive. Service and support animals fly free. Bringing a garden variety pet on board costs about $100 or more.
At one time, someone wanting an ESA certification had to visit a doctor. Now people can go online. CertaPet.com, for example, asks: “Tired of paying unnecessary pet fees? Your pet may qualify as an emotional support animal. ” It offers an online assessment questionnaire, registration (not required by the government or airlines) and the all-important evaluation by a mental health professional. CertaPet founder Erik Spalding tells us his goal is to “help facilitate access to mental health care,” adding that “any system is ripe for abuse.”
True enough. People who seek to bring “blankie” pets on board ought to realize that when their animals misbehave, they give a bad name to legitimate service dogs and the people who need them. Even well-behaved ESAs inconvenience passengers and harm those with allergies.
Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, says she has seen dogs mess up bathrooms, bite passengers and fight with other dogs at the gate. “It’s getting a little bit nutty,” she says.
The federal “y’all come” policy was written with good intentions, but pet owners have taken advantage. It’s time for them to stop scamming the system, for mental health professionals to stop handing out certifications like candy, and for government to tighten the rules. Economy class is uncomfortable enough without it turning into the Bronx Zoo.