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What's with the Dogs!

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cal73cap

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Posts
87
What is with the dogs in the cabin? I flew a Fort Meyers turn the other day out of Newark. Older lady gets on with a mangey looking little dog on a leash. Proceeds to walk into first class and sits down in first class. Dog has a service animal blanket on. What kind of a service animal is a little Lasa Apso? Dog was dirty and a little disgusting. Is the world going crazy with their dogs! Discuss....
 
What is with the dogs in the cabin? I flew a Fort Meyers turn the other day out of Newark. Older lady gets on with a mangey looking little dog on a leash. Proceeds to walk into first class and sits down in first class. Dog has a service animal blanket on. What kind of a service animal is a little Lasa Apso? Dog was dirty and a little disgusting. Is the world going crazy with their dogs! Discuss....

Probably a companion animal or anxiety pet. I don't know if the airline asks for paperwork on service animals to see if they are trained.

Just look what happened when some guy passed his pet rottweiler as a service dog.

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by Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian Tuesday October 28, 2008, 7:48 PM


Kae Seth wasn't surprised to read that bus passenger Leroy Morley passed off his pet Rottweiler mix, Max, as a service dog. The president of Guide Dog Users of Oregon says she increasingly encounters "people who try to stretch the letter of the law" to get their pets into buses and businesses.
Peggy LaPoint wasn't surprised to hear that Marie Kelemen's service dog, Buddy, was a powder puff of a Pomeranian. The TriMet spokeswoman has heard of "service animals" ranging from big dogs to bunnies on Portland's trains and buses.
"All animals" can be service animals, LaPoint said. "It could be a goat, not that we've ever seen a goat. But there have been rabbits. There have been cats. There have been, I imagine, rodents."

And it's no surprise Max and Buddy tangled on the No. 75 bus Sunday. Guide dog owners are used to other dogs sniffing, barking, nipping and otherwise engaging their animals. "Dogs are dogs," said Joanne Ritter, spokeswoman for Guide Dogs for the Blind, which has campuses in California and Oregon.
The only shocking thing about the canine encounter was its brutal finish: One quick bite as Max exited the bus left Buddy bleeding to death on Kelemen's lap.
Max was on a leash when he bit Buddy. That would have been fine for a service dog, which is what Morley told the bus driver Max was, but not for a pet like Max.
"All animals need to be in a carrier, except (service) cats, rabbits, dogs and monkeys," LaPoint said. "They need to be on a leash."
But it's not the job of TriMet workers to decide which animals should be contained, LaPoint said. The Americans With Disabilities Act says any "animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability" is a service animal. All drivers do is ask boarding riders if their leashed companions are service animals, LaPoint said. If the riders say yes, it's not TriMet's place to deem the animal unserviceable.
What about little Buddy? What service can a 7-pound Pomeranian provide? Kelemen has hip and back problems. But Buddy mainly offered social interaction. A doctor wrote a note on a prescription pad saying a companion would help the 59-year-old.
Whether dogs that mostly love and comfort are true service animals "is a big debate, even in the community of people who are blind or disabled," Ritter said. Some say companionship is the essence of a pet, but only training makes a service animal. Still, animals can help some socially isolated or mentally troubled people function better.
TriMet keeps no data on animal ridership. But Seth thinks it's increasingly common for dogs whose main purpose is companionship -- not guiding the blind or opening doors -- to be taken into businesses as service animals.
People who spent decades fighting for access for dogs helping the blind and disabled sometimes worry that folks stretching the law will cause a backlash. But a bigger problem for the blind and disabled is interference from other dogs, either companion animals or pets. What seems like a friendly sniffing session can make a blind person miss a meeting or bus, Ritter said.
"You've just stopped me in my tracks," she said, "and I can't move forward until your dog moves out of the way."
 
Pig Tale Reveals Potential Hazard in 'Assist Animal' Rules

Aviation Today - September 2001
The case of a large pig allowed to fly with a passenger illustrates a loophole regarding so-called "service animals" that could compromise aircraft cabin safety. At the very least, cabin sanitation was not maintained as the squealing animal urinated and defecated in the galley during the frenzied effort to get it off the airplane after landing. Had the airplane encountered turbulence, a startled, frantic pig could have posed a serious safety hazard.

In a flight last November from Philadelphia to Seattle, US Airways allowed a woman to be accompanied by a pot-bellied pig. In arranging for her flight well beforehand, she had requested that the carrier grant approval for the pig to accompany her in the cabin as an assist or service animal (the terms "assist" and "service animal" appear to be used interchangeably in the numerous documents reviewed for this story).
Typically, such animals are defined as any guide dog or other animal "individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability." These tasks include the well-known "seeing eye" function performed by dogs for guiding individuals with impaired vision.

Service animals do not have to be "certified," per se, and indeed carriers may not insist on any "proof" of certification under the provisions of the 1986 Air Carriers Access Act and of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). However, they cannot simply be pets.

Under the ADA, all service animals (not just guide dogs) must be allowed access to public facilities and transportation vehicles, violation of which is a misdemeanor. However, they may not occupy seats.

Pre-approved Pig

US Airways appears to have made a good faith effort to accommodate the passenger and her pig. According to internal carrier documents obtained by this publication under the Freedom of Information Act, the passenger advised carrier officials that her pig weighed some 100 pounds. She also presented a physician's note; although the note was not released under FOIA's privacy exemption, it can be inferred from the carrier's internal correspondence on the matter that the doctor alluded to the pig's calming effect on the woman, who apparently had a heart condition.

The carrier's legal and consumer affairs departments reviewed and approved the passenger's request. In addition, extra bag charges were waived and the economy-class ticket was upgraded to first class. The 24-inch by 52-inch area just aft of a bulkhead in the first-class section of the B757 allowed more room for the passenger, her travelling companion - and the pig - to travel comfortably.

On the day of boarding, the gate agent declared, "I was taken aback at the size of this animal."
The surprised agent surmised that the "true size and weight of the pig were not accurately conveyed to the company when the prior arrangements were being made."

"I initially was going to deny boarding but due to the decision being made at the corporate level, I allowed the transaction to be processed," the agent said.
Although the two women and their pig had been assigned the most spacious seats at the bulkhead, the pig was so large they were forced to make the entire flight with their feet placed on the bulkhead.
The incident was the subject of numerous jibes. "We had to listen to jokes and slurs for six hours," recounted flight attendant Sharon Krug. In an e-mail titled "And I thought I'd heard it all..." another US Airways official said: "The flight departed with the pig wrapped in a blanket. I recall the International House of Pancakes had a great breakfast called '3 Pigs in a Blanket.' It was sausages wrapped in pancakes, but I never got one that weighed 300 pounds!"

Calm throughout the flight (possibly sedated, one witness suggested) the pig apparently became frantic during deplaning. "It cornered a flight attendant and made a terrible noise that rang through the cabin," recalled flight attendant Tonya Parrish. "It was apparent the pig was not a trained assist animal," she said.

Flight attendant Leslie Savage recalled, "When it came time to deplane ... the owner of the pig had no control of the animal. She had to get on the seat to shake and scream at the animal."

"If this was a service animal, I can't tell you who the pig was there to help," she asked.
Needless to say, the fiasco was the subject of considerable media attention. Since the woman had purchased a round-trip ticket, the carrier was faced with having to deal with the problem for the return flight. Notes of a conference call reveal the conundrum US Airways officials were facing:
"Advising the customer outright that we will not transport the pig on the return is potentially an inflammatory situation...take the approach in calling the customer that we have concerns, we now have more information that we had earlier...we may not have handled the situation the way we did...
"This approach will allow for discussion and establishing expectations rather than outright telling her we won't provide transportation. In this conversation we will learn from her whether she intends to travel with the pig on the return, of if there are alternative arrangements we can make not only for the pig but for her disability...our objective is not to transport the pig, but also not (to) create a bad situation with the customer, since we did allow the pig to travel to SEA (Seattle)."

The paper trail ends at this delicate juncture. However, the return ticket was not exercised, mercifully sparing US Airways officials from having to confront the woman.

For reasons of safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that service animals cannot obstruct aisles. Nor, with the exception of monkeys trained as service animals, can they occupy seats. For mobility-impaired passengers travelling with monkeys, the FAA has declared that these animals should be treated the same as lap children: "A disabled passenger should be able to accommodate a monkey of roughly the same size as a human infant in the same way."

The FAA has also decreed that the "under the seat" requirement needs to be "interpreted reasonably." Many guide dogs, along the size of a German shepherd, clearly would not fit in such a small space. The FAA maintains that if the animal extends into the area where the passenger's feet would be placed, that does not constitute grounds for determining that the animal "should not be accommodated at the passenger's seat." Unless, that is, "the carrier so strictly enforces its carry-on policies that it requires other passengers to move their carry-on items if any part of an item extends into that area." One assumes here that this last "item" refers to the service animal.
The extant guidance seems ripe for abuse, as was evidenced in the case of the 300-lb. flying pig. US Airways flight attendant Kenneth Pike raised the issue of the pig's presence in the event of unexpected clear-air turbulence. The pig posed a significantly greater potential hazard than an unsecured service cart in the aisle. Or, sufficiently startled by turbulence, it could have attempted to bull its way into the cockpit. Sedating the animal before flight would clearly negate the "service" function these assist animals are trained to provide.
And, during a potential emergency evacuation, there may be cases where a trained service animal is less prone to panic than people.

Nevertheless, a number of safety issues appear relevant. In the event of an emergency, passengers accompanied by service animals so large they must place their feet on the bulkhead cannot assume a correct "brace" position. Very large service animals also present an unsecured hazard in the event of turbulence. A large alarmed pig on the rampage places cabin staff, other passengers, and potentially the cockpit crew at risk. The squeals of a terrified pig will almost certainly unnerve passengers unfamiliar with the sound, thereby increasing the anxiety level in the cabin.

Leaving the determination to the captain as to whether or not a large service animal constitutes a potential hazard could be viewed as avoiding these issues. At the very least, deferring such decisions to captains may be a prescription for inconsistent "policy." One captain's safety hazard could well be little more than a curiosity to another. Dumping the problem on the captains also seems unfair; the captain's role is not one of making ad hoc policy, but rather one of being responsible for safe operation of the airplane in accordance with approved, standardized procedures.

Therein lies the opening for extreme cases like the one experienced by US Airways, and the potential safety hazard in turbulence (or worse) posed by a service animal hurled or raging terrified about the cabin. - David Evans
 
PC ADA Krap.

To all of you needy travelers: Screw you, the Pig, the Dog, and the "Service Monkey".

Stop being a friggin' burden on Society and find another way to travel if you can't be without your pet Iguana for 2 hours.

And, by the way, get on a pair of PANTS and a button down shirt ....OR, get the EFF off of my airplane you American piece of Wal-mart sucking, trailer trash living, McMansion Government bail-out, irresponsible, P.O.S, YOU.

Love,

YKMKR

P.S. - Man. Am I glad I am outta' there....Off to the next Flea Market to purchase another million rounds or so.
 
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I'll take a planeload of dogs over the vast majority of mange-y, flipped-flopped passengers any day!

Did your owner pay for her first class ticket? :smash: Everyone got what they paid for I guess.
 
Man you are right on !

That was too funny and sadly you're right as things have sure changes since I was a kid. We used Non Rev when I was a kid and can remember asking my folks what was wrong with that guy the first time I saw someone in cut-offs. Now a day he would fall in the well dressed group. Sad to see how things have changed.

P.s. Are you having any trouble finding cheap 22LR? I have given up on more 5.56 or 7.62x39 being bought cheap.


PC ADA Krap.

To all of you needy travelers: Screw you, the Pig, the Dog, and the "Service Monkey".

Stop being a friggin' burden on Society and find another way to travel if you can't be without your pet Iguana for 2 hours.

And, by the way, get on a pair of PANTS and a button down shirt ....OR, get the EFF off of my airplane you American piece of Wal-mart sucking, trailer trash living, McMansion Government bail-out, irresponsible, P.O.S, YOU.

Love,

YKMKR

P.S. - Man. Am I glad I am outta' there....Off to the next Flea Market to purchase another million rounds or so.
 
That was too funny and sadly you're right as things have sure changes since I was a kid. We used Non Rev when I was a kid and can remember asking my folks what was wrong with that guy the first time I saw someone in cut-offs. Now a day he would fall in the well dressed group. Sad to see how things have changed.

P.s. Are you having any trouble finding cheap 22LR? I have given up on more 5.56 or 7.62x39 being bought cheap.


My old man used to always wear his suit when traveling by air.... in fact I had to wear shoes, slacks and a little sports coat myself!

...although it sure beat the sailor outfit I'd have to wear on holidays (or visiting a decommissioned sub - dad was into stuff like that) as a kid so I looked "cute" to the adults. Fun times...
 

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