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Soon we’re going to have the battle of the special need certificates.
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lol…things are going to get ugly!
I guess at that point, the person who “booked first” will get priority?? Airlines will have to have the means to “keep track” of such things at the time of booking.
“What if the dog that growled at me had bit me or heaven forbid a child?”
My mom’s stroller has a mesh top over where the dog sits and she is zipped in. I’m pretty sure every dog stroller has that. It keeps the dog from jumping out or biting anyone (not that her dog would bite anyone!)
They just passed a law in NY that you can bring your dogs into restaurants. It’s up to the restaurant to decide whether they want tables for people with dogs in a specific area of restaurant or not.
Yes. So much abuse going on. Psychiatric disabilities are a category to be eligible for service dogs. 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.
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Yes. ES dogs are a sham. If someone has a psychiatric disability, they qualify for a trained service dog. http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html
I had 10 stitches as a result of a dog bite many years ago (I was 14). Since that time I’ve been somewhat afraid of dogs. Never had a dog until my kids begged for a dog and H wanted one too–I figured why not. I got comfortable with my dog, but still worry about other dogs. I think dogs sense this immediately.
Given all the allergies to cats and dogs (which can be really severe) I think a fair compromise is to only allow trained, service dogs in retail estaishments and restaurants. ESAs and owners should be in a separate area on flights and in restaurants. Other places,e.g., food stores, no ESAs. Do you really need emotional support when food shopping?
My mother isn’t abusing the system. She has a legitimate need according to her therapist - who she sees on a regular basis and she also has been going to a support group to cope with my dad’s illness.
I think this thread is a good place for this NYT article from today. There is a reason one of the treatments they use is time spent with dogs.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/anxious-students-strain-college-mental-health-centers/
I get that your mother wants her dog in the condo, so if she wants to get the note which permits that, I don’t have a huge problem. I’m sure it does comfort her. However, I doubt that she needs to take it to stores and restaurants. That’s abuse, in my opinion.
I have a suspicion that some of these “ES” dogs get dragged all over town by their owners because these dogs are so poorly trained that it left home alone, they would either tear the place apart or bark and howl non-stop.
There’s a simple solution to the service pet issue. Require the owner to carry a certification of proof that it is a service animal. This doesn’t have to give ANY information about the actual disability, just a description of the animal and the name, address etc of the owner.
My mom has a handicapped placard. She must carry the DMV proof that it was issued to her at all times while using the sign. The DMV form gives absolutely no info as to her disability. It simply verifies that SHE is the authorized user of the card.
Dietz- the problem is that you can get these “certifications” off of the internet! Or- from a family friend who is a doctor. Service animal requires more, as does therapy dog, but the emotional support certifications are pretty fast and loose.
Yup – it seems to be just as hard to get an emotional support dog letter from a therapist as it is to get one of the pot docs to give you a medical marijuana card. Probably easier. (In Colorado, a high percentage of the holders of a medical marijuana card were young men with terrible, intractable pain. Who had no problem snowboarding, despite that awful pain.)
A terribly abused system, imo.
“However, I doubt that she needs to take it to stores and restaurants. That’s abuse, in my opinion.”
She doesn’t take her dog everywhere but if she wants to she can. The dog also always travels with her - in it’s carrier under the seat. When she was up here after my dad died and my sister met us half way to exchange her - she didn’t leave the dog in the car - she put her in a stroller and we went out to lunch. No one at the restaurant cared at all. I am sure more people would have been appalled if we had left the pooch in the car on an 80 degree day then the dog was in the restaurant.
But hey, if you don’t like emotional service pets don’t ever get one.
I’m sure most of us adore emotional assistance (not service) animals, but we aren’t willing to abuse the system to get permission to call our animal companions by that designation. I’m glad you didn’t leave pooch in the car, for sure. I’m also glad your mother finds comfort in her pet, but call it what it is!
The law is very clear that an emotional support animal (ESA) is not the same as a service dog. However, for many people suffering from PTSD (the category includes veterans as well as other people who’ve undergone traumatic events), an ESA is an essential part of their ability to manage the world. Further, for many people with anxiety, an ESA can make a huge difference (as with the friend whose ESA was so designated by a judge as part of her divorce). I have another friend with autism whose dog is a crucial part of her ability to live independently. These dogs are far more than a “pet” to those who rely on them.
While I understand that nervous types find being around their pets calming, this sort of thing is just going to be abused.
Along with dogs and mini-ponies, birds, pigs, hamsters, guinea pigs and a few other animals can become ESA.
Pigs? ok, I want an Arnold Ziffel to be my ESA.
Plenty of people have pet pigs, so I say go for it.
The potential for abuse does not mean that people with legitimate needs should be forbidden to have ESAs.
what will take priority when a person with an ESA is in the same place as someone who’s allergic to the ESA?
Last summer I flew with our daughter’s cat out to Seattle after she relocated there and was settled. The cat was in a carrier stowed under the seat - he was paid for and did very well on the trip out there. We flew Southwest which, of course, does not have assigned seating. It was a full flight and when a lady came to sit next to me, I asked if she was OK with cats because if she had any issue or had any allergies, I wanted to make sure she knew and could chose a different seat. Her response, “I love cats! Let me show you pictures of my cats”. She whipped out her phone and I spent the next 3 hours having to look at pictures of her cats. Nothing like being seated next to the Crazy Cat Lady! Otherwise a very uneventful flight for the cat.
There is a line and I don’t believe a situation such as emilybee’s mother meets what I regard as the criteria- and I am a lawyer who has dealt with these issues. She did this to be allowed to have a pet in her condo- a pet that eases anxiety and gives her comfort. Does she have such anxiety and stress that she can’t go out to eat without the animal, or is it simply more convenient and fun to bring it along in a stroller?
Sure, people have pet pigs. Does their emotional state warrant it needing to go to the grocery store with them?
Come on…
You may be a lawyer but you are not a therapist so all you have is a personal opinion on the matter. Being a lawyer does not qualifiy you to judge someone’s mental health or what therapy they might require.