Must love dogs? You may not have a choice

If you want to understand why “emotional support animals” on airplanes have become such a flashpoint, consider a striking seasonal statistic. On Valentine’s Day, the National Retail Federation projected about 21 percent of Americans would buy a present for a pet, spending a total of $751 million. That’s up from 17 percent in 2008, when the group began tracking the category.

The debate over animals on airplanes is part of a bigger cultural shift that is overturning existing norms about when and where pets are appropriate. Animal owners have long loved their pets, but lately they’ve taken their devotion to a new level. And here’s where the breakdown of existing norms starts to bite — in some cases, literally.

Until recently, the norm was for people who disliked, feared or were allergic to animals to tolerate brief interactions on the street or in a pet owner’s home. They understood that theirs was a minority view, and they’d pretend not to mind your dog the same way people used to pretend that cigarette smoke didn’t bother them. But they could also count on spending most of their day without animal encounters. Offices, restaurants, hotels — not to mention airplanes — were petfree zones.

No longer. Pet evangelists have been gaining ground, especially in making workplaces dogfriendly. About 11 percent of U.S. pet owners now work in places that allow animals, compared to 8 percent in 2014, according to the American Pet Products Association’s most recent National Pet Owners Survey. “Amazon’s dog friendly environment helps reduce stress for all its employees,” declares Seattle DogSpot, which named it the city’s most dog-friendly business.

That’s not true, of course, unless the business hires only dog lovers. For some people, dogs increase stress. And dog lovers can’t imagine anyone who isn’t one of their number.

The conflict isn’t just a matter of clashing tastes. For most, an allergy means a runny nose or itchy eyes, but in some cases, the reaction can be life-threatening.

So a new culture war is brewing, this time over pets in public places. Will we welcome them? Must we? And what happens to the minority who object?