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United Airlines moves to stop abuse of emotional support animals policy

taterhed

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http://abc13.com/travel/united-airlines-changes-emotional-support-animal-policy/3158515/


A new United Airlines policy kicks in today.

It's important to note this only applies to emotional support animals, not trained service animals.

United Airlines has seen a 75-percent increase in emotional support animals traveling with their owners. Along with that spike, there's been an increase in onboard incidents involving those animals.

  • Passengers with emotional support animals will have to provide the following:

  • A vet health and vaccination form signed by the animal's veterinarian.

  • A letter from a mental health professional.

  • A signed form that their emotional support animal is trained to behave properly in public settings.

  • This form also confirms that a passenger acknowledges responsibility for the animal's behavior.

    All three documents must be provided to United Airlines 48 hours in advance of the flight.

    Delta Airlines is also rolling out new rules for emotional support animals. They require the same type of documents.
 
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Same with Southwest Airlines. Basically, "Emotional Support Animal" is the Millenial name for pets. Do you buy a pet to feed? No, you buy it to give/receive love, and their love gives a person emotional help. Anyway, there have been a lot of "emotional support" dogs biting others or acting up, and some have brought exotic animals (and were denied). It's good that airlines have clamped down on the practice.

TS
 

Egret1986

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This is great news that the airlines are being proactive. :thumbup: Everywhere I go now, it seems, there's someone bringing Fluffy or Fido along with them.

This emotional support animal issue was brought up at one of my last HOA meetings. The resort management indicated that their hands were basically tied.

It seems that there are things that CAN be required. I hope the resorts will step up and start requiring such documentation, as well as other places where "pets" shouldn't be brought. If it's a true emotional support animal, then the owner should not have a problem providing these documents. Everyone else......leave the critters at home. If you really need Fluffy or Fido with you wherever you go, then see the vet and the mental health professional and get your documentation in order.
  • Passengers with emotional support animals will have to provide the following:

  • A vet health and vaccination form signed by the animal's veterinarian.

  • A letter from a mental health professional.

  • A signed form that their emotional support animal is trained to behave properly in public settings.

  • This form also confirms that a passenger acknowledges responsibility for the animal's behavior.

    All three documents must be provided to United Airlines 48 hours in advance of the flight.
 

WalnutBaron

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Great news. When the emotional support peacock (?!??!!) showed up at Newark Airport, I think that was the tipping point.
 

pedro47

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That is just "Outstanding" news by the airline carriers (United, Southwest & Delta Airlines).

Now the cruise lines industry needs to follow these marching orders.

To the OP: Thanks for sharing this very important policy.
 

taterhed

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YGBSM :eek:

And that's all I 'gotta say about that.

Emotional-Support-Peacock-1.jpg
 

PamMo

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It sounds good in theory, but the vast majority of these people go online to get their fake ESA certificates and pet harnesses. These websites are SO helpful! They provide mental health "evaluations" and letters to document the owner's need to have their emotional support animal with them for less than the cost of a few days boarding in a kennel. The documentation is easy to obtain and very official looking, so the onus is on the airline, hotel, timeshare, restaurant, etc. to prove otherwise.

See below from one website - www.esaregistration.org/faq/#what-are-the-different-laws-protecting-emotional-support-animals-esas-and-service-dogs

How do I find a doctor who will prescribe an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) letter?
We offer an easy way to schedule an assessment with a mental health professional who is able to prescribe an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) letter. To schedule an appointment with a mental health professional for an ESA evaluation letter you can click here
.​
 

Patri

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It sounds good in theory, but the vast majority of these people go online to get their fake ESA certificates and pet harnesses. These websites are SO helpful! They provide mental health "evaluations" and letters to document the owner's need to have their emotional support animal with them for less than the cost of a few days boarding in a kennel. The documentation is easy to obtain and very official looking, so the onus is on the airline, hotel, timeshare, restaurant, etc. to prove otherwise.
Hopefully in the 48 hours the airline will make a phone call, and see these places have never examined a person in person.
 

PamMo

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Hopefully in the 48 hours the airline will make a phone call, and see these places have never examined a person in person.

Ahhhh, but a mental health "professional" DOES talk to them on the phone, after carefully evaluating the questionare they fill out online!!! It is such a racket.

It's ridiculous that a well-meaning program can get so out of whack by people who abuse the system.
 

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I hope it at least cuts down, tired of this. Perhaps in some cases it does help, I am not in that field so don't know. But there are costs to others as well that need to be weighed in, and apparently are (now). If someone has a pet next to me, I will likely break out in hives and be miserable for 2-3 days minimum, possibly requiring a trip to a minor emergency center for a steroid shot. So, hopefully, the benefit to the other person outweighs the cost to me. Not to mention all the other costs noted by others here like incidents with biting, etc.
 

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I hope it at least cuts down, tired of this. Perhaps in some cases it does help, I am not in that field so don't know. But there are costs to others as well that need to be weighed in, and apparently are (now). If someone has a pet next to me, I will likely break out in hives and be miserable for 2-3 days minimum, possibly requiring a trip to a minor emergency center for a steroid shot. So, hopefully, the benefit to the other person outweighs the cost to me. Not to mention all the other costs noted by others here like incidents with biting, etc.

The law requires that accommodations are made with minimal impact to any affected party (medically speaking). So, if you're allergic to a service/comfort animal, you can ask that the animal be accommodated away from your seat or (more likely) you will be accommodated away from the bulkhead. YMMV
 

Steve Fatula

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The law requires that accommodations are made with minimal impact to any affected party (medically speaking). So, if you're allergic to a service/comfort animal, you can ask that the animal be accommodated away from your seat or (more likely) you will be accommodated away from the bulkhead. YMMV

Yeah, well, I am just one of those that doesn't like to be a "trouble maker", i.e., stand up for my rights in a case like this. So, I typically just suffer and be the nice guy. Fortunately, it has never been something ridiculous as that probably would cause me to ask for assistance. I just politely ask them (the neighbor with the pet) to keep the pet away from me after explaining the situation. My comments were more related to this issue becoming more common lately, we've certainly noticed it on flights.
 

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These pets are like "children" or spouses to their owner.
"how could you not just LOVE my critter?".
"how could I treat my critter like a creature or an animal ... that is not humane?" It is animal .. not a child or human being.
"I need my critter to help with my issues in life".

Personally, if I have the person in the next seat holding a snake or rottie, I will have my issues, too. The hibbie-jebbies and twitches plus leg cramps ... with 15 bathroom breaks during the flight... all the while being as nice as all getout.
 

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The law requires that accommodations are made with minimal impact to any affected party (medically speaking). So, if you're allergic to a service/comfort animal, you can ask that the animal be accommodated away from your seat or (more likely) you will be accommodated away from the bulkhead. YMMV
There was an article I read a few months ago where a passenger with allergies had a dog seated next to her, she asked the flight attendant to be reseated, and since the plane was full, was forced to be removed from the plane. Seems like they favor the passengers w/ animals over those with allergies.

Kurt
 

Patri

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Ahhhh, but a mental health "professional" DOES talk to them on the phone, after carefully evaluating the questionare they fill out online!!! It is such a racket.
It's ridiculous that a well-meaning program can get so out of whack by people who abuse the system.
That's not evaluating someone in person. It should be a counselor or PCP they have seen for appointments. But I suppose the airlines can't pierce this sham, for those who insist on traveling with their pets.
 

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  • Passengers with emotional support animals will have to provide the following:
  • A vet health and vaccination form signed by the animal's veterinarian.
  • A letter from a mental health professional.
  • A signed form that their emotional support animal is trained to behave properly in public settings.
  • This form also confirms that a passenger acknowledges responsibility for the animal's behavior.

    All three documents must be provided to United Airlines 48 hours in advance of the flight.

This is definitely an attempt to cover their butts from the lawsuits/insurance settlements when these animals hurt passengers and flight attendants. However that doesn't make it a bad thing. It puts the responsibility where it belongs on the medical professionals who falsify the required documentation and the owner of the animal for falsifying their animal is trained. With ADA service animals there are legal ramifications and penalties for falsifying an animal's records. Kennels require the same documentation for current vaccinations and an exam within the previous 12 months. These are all very reasonable requirements.

I particularly like that the owner has to sign a form stating that the animal is "trained to behave properly in public settings". The owner should realize that the form the owner signs saying their animal has been trained will in the event of an incident be used by an attorney to mean that the animal successfully completed some kind of formal training. Not necessarily the same level of training a true service dog receives but some type of formal training. It isn't hard to imagine how the lawyer would handle the questioning. Mr., Mrs. or Ms. So and So, you say you trained your dog yourself, how are you qualified to train an animal? Did you attend some type of class and have a certification of completion. Years ago we had a beautiful lab I took to training classes at a local college. The class was taught by someone who trained and showed dogs for a living and the class was designed to teach you how to train your dog. I received a certificate for successfully completing the class and Sparky got one for being the star of the class. The teacher gave us some extra attention/work and I continued to work with Sparky enough that he could have entered competitions he was so well trained. Based on that I could claim that qualifies me to train any other dogs we had, however that doesn't mean I actually took the time and effort to do that with any subsequent dogs.

If, before the flight takes off, the animal is observed by other passengers or the flight attendants doing anything that would indicate that the animal isn't properly trained, that would be enough to have the passenger and their animal removed from the flight. And possibly barred from being allowed on that airlines flights in the future. With the documentation and signed forms required 48 hours in advance of the flight that gives the airlines time to check to see if the animal has been a problem previously or to decide that the documentation isn't valid or current and deny permission.
 
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MuranoJo

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Glad to see at least an effort is made to curtail some of this. It's getting ridiculous.
We just got back from a weekend music event inside a hotel where, for the first time, we saw several people trying to bring in pets with phony 'emotional support dog' vests. There's hardly room for all the attendees, but some of these guys want to bring in dogs as big as Shetland ponies. For their emotional support. Right. I heard a few of the door guards tell them to check with event management.
One lady got in with her dog and it was well behaved. But it was doubtful she needed the dog for emotional support...she scrolled her phone throughout the entire event and never touched the dog.
 

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There was an article I read a few months ago where a passenger with allergies had a dog seated next to her, she asked the flight attendant to be reseated, and since the plane was full, was forced to be removed from the plane. Seems like they favor the passengers w/ animals over those with allergies.

Kurt

So, that was actually a special case....

I'll paraphrase, but the short/sweet: after boarding, a woman seated in the back of the plane told the flight crew “that she had a life-threatening pet allergy,” and that she wanted the two dogs (reported as one pet and one 'service' dog <or ESA, conflicting>) removed from the flight......also reported she requested a 'shot.'

SWA informed the passenger that unless she had a certificate and the required medication, she could not be accommodated on the flight---because she reported that she had a life threatening condition but no proof of such or medication to treat her condition. Suddenly, she had no such condition and refused to exit the aircraft. She was arrested for refusal/resisting etc.... Sorry for any inaccuracies.

The moral of this story: don't tell the flight attendant handing out peanuts "I'm deathly allergic to peanuts....get me a shot" and expect them to comply or ignore you without further question....
 

PigsDad

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So, that was actually a special case....

I'll paraphrase, but the short/sweet: after boarding, a woman seated in the back of the plane told the flight crew “that she had a life-threatening pet allergy,” and that she wanted the two dogs (reported as one pet and one 'service' dog <or ESA, conflicting>) removed from the flight......also reported she requested a 'shot.'

SWA informed the passenger that unless she had a certificate and the required medication, she could not be accommodated on the flight---because she reported that she had a life threatening condition but no proof of such or medication to treat her condition. Suddenly, she had no such condition and refused to exit the aircraft. She was arrested for refusal/resisting etc.... Sorry for any inaccuracies.

The moral of this story: don't tell the flight attendant handing out peanuts "I'm deathly allergic to peanuts....get me a shot" and expect them to comply or ignore you without further question....
Yes, I suspected that there were extenuating circumstances. I'm guessing that she overstated her allergy in order to get action, but ended up with her being removed, not the dogs.

Kurt
 

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Many times, 'Premium Passengers' book the bulkhead seats (seats at front of economy with only 'bulkhead wall' in front of the seat. It just so happens that this 'bulkhead seat' is the favorite location for working or service animals to be accommodated. It allows the service/working dog to be loaded either first/last (depending on needs) and deplaned first. It also can limit the passenger contact to the animal to a minimum. Another favorite location is the extra-large areas near the over-wing exit....if rules permit (not all safety-related rows are permitted ).

Unfortunately, this often means relocating a 'Premium Passenger' to a less-premium seat or denying an upgrade. Some folks are quite gracious about this....while others are not. In fact, some people get very irate.

As you can imagine, if the animal being accommodated in the premium bulkhead seat appears to be a 'sham' or 'fake' then civility often leaves the station....or airport in this case.

Personally, if I were moved from my premium seat to accommodate an 'emotional support peacock' or any other guinea fowl, I would be more than just a little irate.

I do think it is very bad form to suddenly develop an allergy to peacocks, however. :confused: Apparently, that can ruffle a few feathers. :p
 

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Is it all really about people using the system to get a better seat and/or avoid paying fees for a pet?
 

DaveNV

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I'm thinking of being like this guy:

support.jpg
 

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Is it all really about people using the system to get a better seat and/or avoid paying fees for a pet?

No it's not.

Remember when 'handicapped parking' spaces were new? People resented them. People parked in them anyway. People judged (and still do) every single person who climbed out of a car in a handicapped space.

Someday, hopefully, the programs for service dogs, ESA's and working dogs, will enhance and benefit the lives of those who have real need and be available--under enforced penalty of law--to those who need them.

Everyday, I watch people blow-by me in the HOV lane....the sole occupant of the car. Nothing finer than watching them get pulled over by a trooper and handed a hefty fine and significant ticket.
That's how I feel about people that abuse the current ADA and ACAA rules and provisions.
 
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