I flew with my hampster, Matlida, several times when I was in college. I just put her in my pocket when I went through security (didn’t want her exposed to the x-ray machine) and then put her in a travel case in my carry on. I also flew with two gold fish from Miami to LA but that was pre 911.
There is a good reason a rodent is not allowed on a plane: any creature that can slip into a tiny hole and get to wires and chew them can cause major problems. The other day a flight got delayed because a rat ran into the airplane! I am very sympathetic to the kid, but the airline had a legitimate reason for denying hamster on board and should have communicated it clearly.
As a friend of many who work on planes, no rodent should ever be allowed anywhere near the gate. Your safe arrival may depend on it.
People really need to rethink traveling with pets.
I often see dogs in the grocery store, some even sitting in the basket, I always wash my fruit but I still think it’s gross to have dogs around food. I also cringe when I see dogs sitting on the drivers lap in a car. I love my pets but they can be very unpredictable and ‘dirty.’
^^ How can this be any dirtier than a child in only a diaper sitting in the same seat??
I think many of the posters on this thread are ignorant about dog hygiene that dog owners practice.
It’s different because you can’t leave your kids home alone and they are less likely to get spooked and bite a stranger. I also think the dirty diaper analogy is gross in a shopping cart, I like to see the kids at least dressed.
Did you miss the part where I’m a dog and cat owner, I know where they sniff and I know where they dig.
These days in the machine where they scan you, maybe she would show up in your pocket!
Oh, you never met my D2 at the age of 2, did you?
We, as a society, need to rethink the whole ‘I am special, I have special needs, I need to be accommodate in a manner above and beyond others, I need special spaces/timeframes/housing/parking/food etc.’ This whole ESA debacle is just a logical extension of the 'I am special and I need you do what every I need you to do to make it work for ME".
The purpose of accommodations for a true disability is to provide equal access, not to provide special treatment for people who are not deserving. It is not to accommodate in a manner above and beyond. Again, the law says it is to provide equal access. The rampant abuse by people who take advantage of a system put in place to help those who truly are disabled hurts everyone. They should be prosecuted.
Do those of you seeing animals in shopping carts at the grocery store and such make a point of talking to management about the practice? (obviously not talking about service animals here). The more people are vocal about it, IMO, the more the stores will feel empowered to address the issue.
It’s my understanding a service animal would NEVER be in s grocery cart because it couldn’t provide services while seated there.
What is a 'true disability". Who gets to decide what is a disability and what isn’t? We have long passed the reasonable person standard in this area. The home owner, airline, bus driver, restaurant purveyor, college professor etc. has no right to ask the person who has self identified as ‘disabled’ what such a disability might be. We are landlords and the abuse of this system is laughable. But, we as a society have decided that the right of any and everyone to self identify as disabled surpasses the right of any other person to ask about the reasonableness of the demanded accommodation. The self identified disabled gets to make it up as they go along.
As for animals in a grocery cart - well - hey - I have a food allergy and the animal determines by smell whether or not I am endangering myself by being near a certain item. So the grocery store animal gets to sniff, smell, snort and generally do what it needs to do to make sure I am not exposed to - oh what the heck -let’s say gluten 
@doschicos, I’ve talked to managers twice about animals in shopping carts, both times I was told it’s too hard to tell which animal is a service animals and which ones aren’t. They were worried about litigation and bad publicity if they got it wrong.
It really should be harder to get the certificate as a service animal, it’s abused way to often.
(I have no problem with seeing eye dogs, seizure dogs, diabeties dogs and food allergy dogs, but they are usually not in the cart and should have certificate or tags on them).
In the past, Costco successfully defended itself in a lawsuit brought by a woman who put her dog in a shopping cart. She got upset that the employees were questioning her about her dog’s skills as a service animal. The court notes that a dog sitting in a cart raises a legitimate question of whether it performed any function for the owner.
Most store employees just turn their heads the other way and pretend these fake “service animals” are jut not there. When I complained that a couple brought a puppy that peed into the shopping cart at my local Target, the store manager gave me a lecture that by law the puppy was allowed to be there - no questions asked. I just don’t shop at that store anymore. And I avoid most downright stores because of the dogs that sniff at everyone and occasionally take a dump or a leak. Eech.
A professional therapist, licensed by a state, gets to decide if a person needs an ESA, if the patient has a disability that can be helped by the animal. The businesses that have to accept the ESA, which so far are ONLY housing and airlines, can set some other standards like the health of the animal, required vaccines, areas of the property where the animal is allowed (doesn’t have to allow them in a pool, in the kitchen, etc.). Airlines can restrict the type of animal (no rodents, snakes, and we now know, peacocks).
If you as a landlord feel the tenants are abusing the law, report the doctor to the state board.
For a service animal, you can’t ask about the disability, but you can ask what services the animal performs, such as guides the owner, detects low blood sugar, indicated someone is at the door.
Yes, I do complain to the management when people have dogs in businesses that are clearly not service animals. My bank got a complaint at the counter and by email. TJMaxx got one at Christmas and I told the woman with the dog too.
The ADA is way too wishy washy on service animal/ESA regulations. Too many “generally” and “it depends” answers on their service animal/ESA FAQ sheet. My apologies if this FAQ sheet has already been posted; I haven’t read the whole thread.
https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html
The ADA is not ESA. The problem is people keep confusing the two. They are different.
It looks to be fairly simple to register your pet as a service animal online. No verification needed.
I don’t blame the stores for being cautious and looking the other way. I just think that if more and more people express their dislike for the trend, that will give the issue more weight and embolden store management. Right now I think those wanting to bring their pets everywhere - stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. are the ones being vocal so more and more establishments are becoming pet friendly and almost bending over backward to accommodate pets.
Don’t get me wrong. Pets are fine. I just don’t think that they need to go everywhere with their owners except for isolated situations. Pets were fine for decades and decades being the king of their own castles - left at home.