US ends era of emotional support animals on planes • Hacker News Board

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#11

Post by TigeriusKirk » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:08 PM UTC

hpoe wrote: post #5

So something I only recently found out myself is that there is actual no real requirements in order to register an animal as an "emotional support animal", I found that out after my sister registered her dog as an emotional support animal to get around her apartments "no pets allowed" rule. Another interesting thing is that I have a friend who builds apartments in a college town for students. The apartments for years…

Just go off on a tangent a bit, but isn't "emotional support animal" pretty much the definition of "pet"?

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#12

Post by SomeoneFromCA » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:10 PM UTC

Support bat. And this how a new pandemic starts.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#13

Post by at-fates-hands » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:17 PM UTC

brightball wrote: post #10

hpoe wrote: post #5

So something I only recently found out myself is that there is actual no real requirements in order to register an animal as an "emotional support animal", I found that out after my sister registered her dog as an emotional support animal to get around her apartments "no pets allowed" rule. Another interesting thing is that I have a friend who builds apartments in a college town for students. The apartments for years…

Yep. The thing that bothered me more than anything about this is that you aren't allowed to ask for any type of verification, so people can just walk in with them anywhere. Never made sense to me. At least to park in a handicap space you need a hang tag or a special license plate. Why not something simple like a special collar tag or card in your wallet?

A know in my state (Minnesota) a lot of places (apartments/condos) require the dog is a service dog, not just designated an "emotional support dog" in order to clamp down on people getting around housing requirements or taking their pets on planes.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#14

Post by gnopgnip » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:17 PM UTC

hpoe wrote: post #5

So something I only recently found out myself is that there is actual no real requirements in order to register an animal as an "emotional support animal", I found that out after my sister registered her dog as an emotional support animal to get around her apartments "no pets allowed" rule. Another interesting thing is that I have a friend who builds apartments in a college town for students. The apartments for years…

There is no registry for emotional support animals, the websites claiming to offer this are scams. You need a letter from a physician or mental health professional that the animal is needed to treat a disability.

Landlords can't charge a pet or animal fee for emotional support animals.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#15

Post by 1996 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:18 PM UTC

I will sorely regret never using this opportunity to fly home for thanksgiving with my emotional support turkey - that would later go on to provide emotional support for the whole family

https://mashable.com/2016/01/11/turkey-therapy-pet-airplane/

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#16

Post by ed25519FUUU » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:18 PM UTC

It was really a matter of time. It was obvious people were using this to simply fly with their pets rather than boarding them. It only takes a few people abusing something... (in this case, from my observation, I think it was quite more than 'a few').

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#17

Post by fuzzmz » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:20 PM UTC

meowfly wrote: post #8

I wish there were better options for people to travel with their pets over long distances. There are plenty of horror stories of pets who have died in cargo. I would be willing to pay for a seat, or even a row, to take my dog on a cross country flight. Setting aside the absurd cases, like emotional support peacocks, I think a lot of the emotional support animal shenanigans are simply people not wanting to cargo their…

We actually had to take advantage of this loophole in order to get back to Europe with our dog during the pandemic, since no airline flying from the US accepted animals in the cargo hold.

But in general, yes, I'd be willing to pay for their own seat or row, just like when traveling with him by train we need to buy a special dog ticket.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#18

Post by henrikschroder » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 7:21 PM UTC

brightball wrote: post #10

hpoe wrote: post #5

So something I only recently found out myself is that there is actual no real requirements in order to register an animal as an "emotional support animal", I found that out after my sister registered her dog as an emotional support animal to get around her apartments "no pets allowed" rule. Another interesting thing is that I have a friend who builds apartments in a college town for students. The apartments for years…

Yep. The thing that bothered me more than anything about this is that you aren't allowed to ask for any type of verification, so people can just walk in with them anywhere. Never made sense to me. At least to park in a handicap space you need a hang tag or a special license plate. Why not something simple like a special collar tag or card in your wallet?

You are absolutely allowed to ask for verification that an animal is a real service animal, but the people who have been conflating emotional support animals with service animals want you to believe that you can't.

Service animals have to be licensed, trained to perform a task or duty, and be easily identifiable. Misrepresenting an untrained and unlicensed animal as a service animal is fraud and illegal.