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

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#131

Post by pfisch » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 8:56 PM UTC

sysadmindotfail wrote: post #126

cj wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: Removed comment, sparked unconstructive discussion.

Let's say my way of self-medicating for anxiety during flights is to get wasted. Does this now entitle me to be a drunk asshole on the flight? No, it does not. This is how I view those who abuse this loophole. Find another way to travel that doesn't impact everyone else in the aluminum tube traveling 550mph.

It is abusive for airlines to charge $250 per roundtrip for a ~10 lb carryon that fits under your seat.

They are operating a scam. This was the only way around it.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#132

Post by RegnisGnaw » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 8:58 PM UTC

happytoexplain wrote: post #9

onetimemanytime wrote: post #2

not to be jerk or anything, but if I said that a cow or an elephant is the only thing that soothes me so accommodate them in a plane? How many other people should be inconvenienced by my issues?

None, since it would probably be deemed infeasible. I think the tendency of engineers to extrapolate "rules" to extreme cases creates a lot of noise. Rules in law, business, and society are not the same as rules in engineering - they allow for subjectivity.

Peacocks: https://www.nj.com/news/2020/12/no-your-emotional-support-pe...

Pig https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/travel/emotional-support-pig-...

Kangaroo https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mcdonalds-kangaroo-beaver-dam...

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#133

Post by tarboreus » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 8:59 PM UTC

mwfunk wrote: post #70

I'm all in favor of people who need them having emotional support animals, but for as long as this has been a thing I have been totally shocked at how many people I personally know (who I thought were better people than this) completely abusing it to bring their pets with them everywhere (planes or anywhere else where you don't normally take pets). And joking about abusing the system, and joking about how awesome it…

Yes, as a blind person I support restrictions on emotional support animals, which is a concept that has been abused more often than it is used. I'm sympathetic to people who want to bring their animals with them, but pretending that your animal is needed to support you emotionally isn't the answer. If you want to create a movement to allow animals at every venue, then start it and society can have that debate. But fibs about medical necessity, and sending away to get a certificate from a random website, isn't the answer.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#134

Post by cj » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:00 PM UTC

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #110

cj wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: Removed comment, sparked unconstructive discussion.

> A lot of people are very attached to their pets, there's nothing wrong with that. Particularly single people living alone without kids (I fall in that bucket). I'm in that category as well, but that by no means entitles me to abuse measures meant to help the genuinely disabled for my own convenience.

> by no means entitles me to abuse measures meant to help the genuinely disabled for my own convenience.

The decision wasn't for my personal convenience. It's much more convenient to throw an animal in the cargo hold. It really is not fun to deal with an animal with you on a crowded plane. Convenience is not the motivating factor at least for me... it's simply treating the animal humanely, which to me means avoiding throwing them in the cargo hold for long haul flights.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#135

Post by throwaway201103 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #111

macdamaniac wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a pretty unpopular take on this, being married to someone with severe pet allergies. That take is, dogs (and cats) have no place on an airplane, and responsible adults shouldn't get pets that they can't find sitters for or board while they are away. Planes are enclosed-air spaces, and the allergens from your dog make anyone with allergies miserable for the entire duration of the flight. Every single time we en…

> That take is, dogs (and cats) have no place on an airplane, and responsible adults shouldn't get pets that they can't find sitters for or board while they are away. And for the situation where you’ll be away for a long time? It’s cheaper to take a pet aboard a plane than to board for a few weeks. But there should be better options than either (1) the cargo bay or (2) in the cabin with everyone else. > Actual servic…

> And for the situation where you’ll be away for a long time?

Again, if that's your life, don't own pets. We had a dog, and having to deal with her when we would go on vacations or even just needing to stay late at work knowing she had been inside and would need to go out was a constant hassle. She was a sweet dog and loved but I'm not ever having another one.

As far as traveling on a plane, I don't see any other practical options, I could imagine something like a kennel area in the passenger compartment but cannot imagine any airline actually providing that unless they could consistently fill it for fees that make up for the loss of the passenger seats, which seems unlikely.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#136

Post by x86_64Ubuntu » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

mwfunk wrote: post #70

I'm all in favor of people who need them having emotional support animals, but for as long as this has been a thing I have been totally shocked at how many people I personally know (who I thought were better people than this) completely abusing it to bring their pets with them everywhere (planes or anywhere else where you don't normally take pets). And joking about abusing the system, and joking about how awesome it…

Keep in mind that an Emotional Support Animal Service Animal. It appears they will still allow service animals, but not the "I just need my Great Dane by me on the flight damnit!!" emotional support animals.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#137

Post by cj » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:04 PM UTC

jonas21 wrote: post #129

cj wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: Removed comment, sparked unconstructive discussion.

> The only alternative was to drive cross-country, or... What was wrong with this alternative (other than being inconvenient for you)?

I don't have a car.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#138

Post by slaymaker1907 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:05 PM UTC

macdamaniac wrote: post #86

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…

I have a pretty unpopular take on this, being married to someone with severe pet allergies. That take is, dogs (and cats) have no place on an airplane, and responsible adults shouldn't get pets that they can't find sitters for or board while they are away. Planes are enclosed-air spaces, and the allergens from your dog make anyone with allergies miserable for the entire duration of the flight. Every single time we en…

You are aware that people sometimes have to move, right? Not everyone wants to take their pets on planes just because they are going on vacation.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#139

Post by nkrisc » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:05 PM UTC

joegahona wrote: post #89

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…

I have a huge beef with "pet rent," as it's charging people a non-refundable fee for an animal each month, simply for existing. If landlords would prefer their tenants not have pets, simply do not allow them.

Conversely, if you don't want to pay the fee, simply don't have a pet.

Re: US ends era of emotional support animals on planes

#140

Post by x86_64Ubuntu » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 9:05 PM UTC

spaetzleesser wrote: post #31

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…

“I think a lot of the emotional support animal shenanigans are simply people not wanting to cargo their pet and not having the time to drive them across the country.” That’s what we did when we flew to Germany with our dog last year. Too many stories about pets dying in cargo. Our small dog just sat on my lap the whole time and a lot of people and children stopped by to pet the dog and give treats. I think it made th…

>...But we knew that she wouldn’t make trouble and wouldn’t have taken her if we had had the slightest doubt

No pet owner thinks their pet is problematic...