Pax can pay for ($100-200) and bring a cabin cat or dog if the pet in its carrier fits under the seat in front. Airlines that allow this usually limit the number of such pets to no than 1-3 per plane and no more than one pet per pax. The pet is supposed to stay in the carrier all the time during flight, but many violate this rule and take their precious little doggies out. Some look awfully big to be able to fit into the carrier! I guess some folks squeeze their dog into the carrier by folding and twisting its legs and body… No wonder the pet wants out!
“Maybe I should get a E.S.A. chicken or pig to accompany me wherever I go”
LOL @doschicos, you are not too far off. The author of the article I linked describes how she took a fowl and a pig to accompany her wherever she went. This was the main point of the article - to show how absurd such policies can get, especially when not well regulated.
Some pigs just could not fly:
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-airways-removed-pooping-pig-and-owner-from-flight-2014-12
That is exactly my point BB. I was shocked over the pig article. In my opinion the seeing eye dogs, seizure alerts, hearing, etc are for life threatening things- to hear a car coming, to see a car coming, to tell you about a pending seizure, etc. the comfort animal is not for life threatening events. Geesh.
What about work say with over 50 people or college? are they now required to allow this too?
Don’t get me wrong- I love dogs and cats and other pets- we have had a lot of them. Right now D is flying on Iceland Air to move back to the states with a cat in cargo. They do not allow pets in cabin even with a carrier.
Hope the cat is doing OK! Our cats traveled like royalties. They had to be in the cabin because they were coming from a country where there was a good chance the crate would not make it onto the plane… So I researched the issue, and the only solution was to send Mr. B to help with the relocation (one cabin cat per pax is the rule on all airlines that allow cabin pets). I had to research transfer and documentation; there was zero chance kiddo could obtain rabies titter and microchip her cats in that country, so transfers in any EU country, Turkey, or Korea were out of question. The cats ended up flying Transaero Airlines - in business class - and transferring in Moscow. The Jet Blue flight from JFK was a piece of cake. 
It was a lot of work for the humans, and a lot of stress for the cats, but it was a necessity. I cannot imagine a sane person subjecting their pet to the torture of air travel for personal pleasure.
@moonchild, did you miss the article where people who were handicapped and had a disney pass would rent themselves to families so the family could go to the head of the line.
I saw someone with a small chihuahua in their grocery cart and it had a “service animal” vest on. lol How is that dog helping the person by riding around in the cart?? I guess it was an anxiety dog or maybe one that smells/detects seizures, but really it looked almost comical.
My mom (who is 85) has a certified emotional support dog. She actually got the certification so she could have a dog in her condo. Dog does go a lot of places with her. She has a stroller which she sips the dog into when going into restaurants and other public places. Dog gets to go on plane with her in it’s carry on.
I met some lawyers from Ross Dress For Less at a conference a couple of years ago. They were telling me about a customer who came into one of their California stores with a Boa Constrictor claiming it was an emotional support animal. She said all their customers went screaming from the store. They did not allow the snake inside. You aren’t required to do so. You have to admit dogs and miniature ponies as service animals in CA.
I deal with this sometimes in my job since my company operates a large number of retail stores and we are pet friendly (except in Florida where we aren’t allowed to be since we sell packaged snack foods and therefore have a food license). We also get an occasional request from an employee for an emotional support animal, which we will accommodate if it will, in fact, allow the employee to perform his or her job. I hate when all this gets abused- like emilybee’s mother. Very common, though. Trained service animals are one thing. The pseudo-emotional support animals are a different story.
My mom is 85 and a widow and she needs her dog for emotional support (and did the last few years when my dad was sick.) I don’t think she is abusing it. If her condo allowed dogs she wouldn’t have needed it to get certified but that wouldn’t have made the dog any less an emotional support for her.
My mom is in Florida and can take her dog inside restaurants in it’s stroller so I would think your stores in Florida would have to allow it, also.
I’m a lawyer and we fought the Florida battle long and hard. If your mother has a license for her emotional support animal, she can take it in establishments that have food licenses. Otherwise, pets can not go in stores that have food. It is violated all the time, of course.
I need my dog and cats for emotional support, too, but I’m not going to take them to restaurants in a stroller.
Oh, ok. I interpreted your comment to mean you didn’t allow any dogs at all in your Florida establishments.
Well, she like to go places with her dog and walking is good for her. It can be very dangerous for little dogs with smushed in faces like my mom’s has - to walk in the Florida heat - so lots of people put their dogs in strollers. When I was down in February and met up with several other CC’s at Mizner - there were more people pushing strollers with dogs in them then babies.
I was in the grocery store a couple of months ago and reached over to get some tomatoes and did not realize that the stroller sitting next to the tomatoes had a dog in it that growled at me. I went right to the store manager and told him what had happened. This is a large grocery store here in CA. The manager told me that for now they were not allowed to tell people with dogs to leave the store, but that upper management was working the issue. What if the dog that growled at me had bit me or heaven forbid a child? You better believe the ones to be sued would be the large grocery store chain. I love animals, but I am tired of going to places like Nordstrom to set the clothes I am buying on the counter where the person before me just sat their dog. Sorry, but I think most dogs need to stay at home and don’t need to go everywhere with their owners. Just my opinion.
I have friends who have service dogs and emotional support animals. (One of them got the ESA designation from the judge who presided over her very nasty divorce.) I like dogs a lot. I don’t care if there are dogs in the store or in restaurants. I do care if the dogs are not well trained.
However, I have a question for those of you who don’t want dogs in stores or in restaurants: exactly what are you afraid of? Do you think the dogs are dirty? unhealthy? carry diseases? spread diseases? There are actually very few diseases that can be transmitted from dogs to humans. Rabies, the nastiest of those, is a required vaccination for any dog in every state in the USA. A dog in a grocery store is less of a health risk than the raw chicken in the meat department.
I’m an animal lover, but I agree that they don’t need to be in stores. My company’s stores are an exception due to the nature of our business. Our local farmer’s market allowed dogs and it got to be a thing to bring your dog to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning and stroll around. It got really obnoxious and there were a lot of complaints, so no dogs are allowed anymore.
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You have to admit dogs and miniature ponies as service animals in CA.
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this has been a huge discussion subject for those who own short-term rentals. Allowing service dogs is understandable, but many of us do not want people bringing mini ponies into our rentals.
(I laughed so hard at @MomofWildChild 's story about the boa constrictor that my H thought I was in need of a calming animal…or maybe some Depends )
Dmd, I know several people with dog allergies who would prefer to eat out without being subjected to allergens. I’m not allergic to animals, but I much prefer to buy a piece of clothing that does not carry someone’s animal’s scent (my cats hate that!) or covered with dog hair (my pets provide plenty of their own, and I manage to keep it off my clothes).
" Rabies, the nastiest of those, is a required vaccination for any dog in every state in the USA."
Not exactly. Just as with humans, exemptions are allowed. HI is the only rabies-free state and has the strictest policies.
This is from March 2015:
https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Documents/Rabies%20state%20law%20chart.pdf
I don’t have an issue with the service dogs which is not what I am seeing at the restaurants and stores that I go into. Many restaurants in our area have outdoor seating and many people eat outside with their dogs which I think is great.
The whole “emotional support” animal thing is largely a scam IMO. There are very few people who are legitimately so emotionally fragile or debilitated or whatever that they can’t function without having their animal with them, and IMO the ESA should be limited to those people. There should be a licensing requirement by the gov’t (much like getting handicapped tags for your cars), and the license should be required to be displayed on demand if you try to take your animal inside someplace. And doctors who sign papers for this when there is no true need should be ashamed of themselves.
I got turned off to the whole “pets in stores” trend when I was in Home Depot once, and a guy had his dog with him who took a big steaming dump right in the middle of the aisle, and the guy just walked away.
We had someone who wanted to rent an apartment from us try to claim their pit bull was an ESA. Uh, no, not happening. Not losing my insurance over your dog.