Oh my, @partyof5 ! Horrible bite!
We have a morning newscaster who was bitten on air by a shelter dog they were featuring. She was off the air for several months and the scar was very visible years after (on her lip). All dogs can be dangerous in a stressful situation and I imagine traveling by air always involves some stress for everyone, including the animals.
Thatās horrible, @twoinanddone! And @partyof5 , Iāll bet that dog that attacked the passenger is, like probably the vast majority of the āESAā dogs, fake. They likely just got someone to provide the documentation so they could save the $ and bring the pet on board. In all my decades of practice, I have never, ever had a patient ask for an ESA letter. But I have had a friend ask me to write a fake one. Better that their real treating doc provide that. Its most likely that the number of situations where a passenger has and needs to fly with, an ESA pet, is quite small. I read somewhere that the # of āESAā animals flying in the last year has gone up some huge percent ( something like 1000%, IIRC though that # could be way off.)
The ESA doesnāt certify the dog (or the cat or gopher or chicken). The letter says that the PERSON needs a support animal, and the person is the patient. The airline now requires documentation on the animal (good thing) but Iām pretty sure my niece can bring any animal she āneedsā as long as that animal (now) has shots and whatever else they require. Similarly, the dog canāt go on the plane without my niece (like with her husband). A training service puppy might be able to travel with any handler.
For a service animal, the animal is certified to work, and it is legal to ask what functions the dogs can perform for the owner (hopefully in a respectful way). The ESA doesnāt have to have any skills. (I have several ālogā dogs that are perfect for petting but nothing else)
The ESA stands for Emotional support ANIMAL. It says that the person has a diagnosed MH disorder and needs the animal to live with them or fly with them to help ameliorate the symptoms. The person writing the letter doesnāt necessarily see the animal, but if the person writing it really and truly has a therapeutic relationship with the passenger, they would likely be familiar with whatever the pet is (the ESA is a pet, it is not a service animal) that the patient has to help manage the symptoms. The letter is supposed to say how the animal is used as part of the treatment plan for symptom management, but few places really require that.
According to Delta, the ESA now has to fit within the confines of their foot space, and cannot extend into the aisle. If a person has an aisle seat, sometimes the footspace is pretty small.
Sorry to be blunt, but I hope your niece, who is apparently bucking/cheating the system to avoid the fee for bringing a pet on the plane, is no longer able to get any upstanding healthcare provider to fake these forms or letters for her. They are only good for a year, but until now, Delta didnāt check. Yay for them that they are going to now.
Delta said this -
They are not required to be in an underseat carrier. They can still be on the passengerās lap.
And also this
ETA - I wish they had added a weight or size limit for the ālap dogsā. I can see people trying to keep a larger dog on their lap rather than purchasing an extra ticket.
ETA again- they have this somewhere, pretty vague but it is some kind of limit
I hope someone doesnāt try to keep some oversized dog in their lap. Then again, maybe itāll try to eat off a tray table and get the boot!
The Delta forms are a little vague about the pet having to fit in the passengers personal seat/foot space, but the carrier has to fit under the seat (if they have one) https://www.delta.com/content/dam/delta-www/pdfs/policy/EmotionalSupportAnimal-RequiredForms.pdf
Canāt wait for someone to try to bring an animal without having submitted the necessary forms 2 days prior to the flight, and attaching the forms to their itinerary.
When I broke my ankle and needed assistance to get to the plane, I was sure to coordinate it with the airlines. I had a knee scooter and crutches and could have brought the knee thingy onto the plane and put it in the closet, but we gate checked it. The flight attendants had their bags in that closet, but would have had to move them if I wanted to bring the scooter. I managed with the crutches on the plane.
She doesnāt see an āupstanding healthcare providerā at all. She sends in forms and the fee and gets the letter back in the mail. Some of the letter providers do a Skype interview or a call, but she just sends in a form and gets a form back.
There is no question that sheās gaming the system, but at least she has a nice sized dog for it and not a turtle or chicken or gerbils that sheās just using to prove she can game the system. She wants her dog with her. She has the type of animal who causes no trouble for Delta.
One thing I didnāt see in the Delta āpre-screenā is whether they will limit the number of dogs on the flight. I think that should be on the lists.
I was being tongue in cheek about the āupstandingā provider. It probably cost her as much to get the fake letter as it might to have her pay to bring the dog on a plane ( doesnt SW charge $100 or so?) Too bad her diagnosed DSM disorder canāt be a pathological liar (there is no DSM d/o for that- sheād be dx as narcissistic personality, and that desnāt need an ESA !)
Passengers have had oversized 2yos on their laps for years.
THIS>>> If you need a seat belt extender, you need to buy two seats. Just thinking the next time I buy my $59 seat on SWA I should pay $30 extra for two seats rather than $59 for half a seat.
Dont the airlines now ask the birthday of the lap child? Well liars will lie.
I believe everyone has to provide their birthdays and have for about 30 yearsāmaybe a little less. I know Iāve had to give my kids birthdates for decades now.
You have to provide a birth date for lap children, but no paperwork unless questioned. My neighbors had a HUGE child who was under 2, with a full set of teeth and curls to die for. They always brought her passport to prove she was under 2. Even for kids you just have to provide their birth dates when you buy the ticket, but they donāt need to show ID at the TSA until they turn 18.
It costs my niece $100 per year, I think, for the letter. Her dog wouldnāt be able to fly in the cabin without the ESA letter, and sheād have to pay at least $100 per flight to have him in cargo. Heās too big for a carrier for under the seat, but he actually fits under the seat. I think you can pay the $100 in cabin fee for cats and small (10-15 pound) dogs on SOME flights. Not all airlines allow you to do that and itās $75-100 per flight, not once a year.
No one thinks that sheās right to get the letter. Even her husband thinks itās wrong but sheās following the rules. The way the questionnaire is written, EVERYONE with a pet would qualify. āDo you feel calm with your pet?ā āDo you get anxious when traveling without your pet?ā Sure, Iām happier with my pet, thatās why I have one. Sure Iām anxious when traveling (with or without the pet) because itās just stressful to stand in line and wait and pay $4 for a bottle of water.
The dog shown in the pix of post 515 link does not appear to be the same dog from the original complaint where the poor guy ended with 28 stitches to his face while the dog and his owner got to continue to their destination.
I donāt whose dog that is or where he comes in.
The original attack dog was obviously a pit bull.
Or is this another attack?
Those questions are silly, @twoinanddone . They do not address the appropriate questions that would be needed to meet criteria for a DSM V mental health diagnosis (typically either depression, anxiety or PTSD). Any practitioner willing to say someone meets the DSM V criteria for a diagnosed disorder based on those questions should have their license yanked.
Sounds a lot like medical marijuana practitioners. I once went to see one because I was losing too much weight while on chemotherapy. Before even hearing my diagnosis the doctor was selling me on the fact that pot was a cure-all for everything from insomnia to pain to trouble focusing. It was clear I could have gone to her and said āevery once in a while I get a headacheā and walked out with a MM prescription.
And TBH, @twoinanddone , no sheās not following the rules. She is not being treated for a MH disorder for which she needs an ESA to help with symptom management. Sheās buying a fake letter from some sham practitioner. Glad, or hope, she isnāt buying a fake vest too.
https://legislativenavigator.myajc.com/#bills/51540 a resolution passed in the state senate for a study committee on service and support animals.
Someday this is going to come back and bite someone (pun intended).
You are claiming you have a diagnosed mental disorder (which employer might not like) or you are a liar/cheat (which nobody likes). Pretty much lose-lose either way.