Airlines cutting down on "comfort animals" and I am happy to see this

I feel bad for anyone out there that genuine, medically, needs this sort of thing but over the years since it was introduced I have seen people absolutely abuse the hell out of this policy and it comes as no surprise that airlines eventually made their way around to getting rid of it altogether.

src

How this ever became a thing is anyone's guess but there is no denying that people took advantage of it that didn't genuinely need it. Personally I have a close friend who liked to regale me with how easy it was to get his dog classified as an "emotional support animal" and therefore the airlines were forced, well depending on the nation of origin or departure, to allow the animal on board due to regulations that exist in that country.

I can see why it was necessary for people that were blind or people that have those dogs that can detect when they are about to have a seizure but I would imagine it started as people who were very nervous to fly and only their dog companion was able to calm them down. You'll have to excuse me for being a bit of a cynic here but if you are so terrified of flying due to a genuine phobia that is going to cause you to fly into a crying rage, perhaps it is best if you don't fly.

Hell, a famous football announcer John Madden had an intense phobia of flying and rather than getting some sort of animal involved in the process he just traveled to all of his media obligations with the NFL by train or bus.

src

Of course we don't all have John Madden's fame or money to get our own bus but seriously, if you are deathly afraid of something I don't think that it should be the obligation of whoever owns the thing in question to make you feel comfortable with some phobia you have. It's completely absurd that it ever became that way.

Now I want people to be able to travel with their cherished pets but there is a reason why there was protocol for this in the first place. While "floofy" might be wonderful towards you, the dog or cat or whatever other animal you claim relaxes you isn't going to be that way just towards everyone else and I don't know if you have noticed it or not, but commercial airplanes are kind of cramped environments.

src

Although I never witnessed this, i heard stories about emotional support donkeys, birds, lizards, you name it. I feel as though a lot of these people were pushing the boundaries for some sort of 15 minutes of fame but for everyone else on that flight, it has the chance to be a major inconvenience. Flying is tough enough without a cat on board that wont shut up because it too doesn't like being on the plane and doesn't know what the hell is going on.

I was speaking to the same friend of mine when he wanted to come and spend some time with me in Guatemala and he wanted to being his dog with him. I begrudgingly checked around and basically the local airline shops told me that "we don't do that American bullshit here" and I wasn't even insulted. It was ridiculous for people to assume that this was ok in the first place.

Most of the countries that I traveled to over the years were not countries that you can fly with your emotional support animal but they would allow genuine registered service animals for a genuine physical disorder that the person in question definitely has and has been verified by a genuine doctor. I haven't spent much time around service animals but I did meet a guy that had one in my travels and the dog was wearing a vest that said to not pet it. The dog was not there for love and kisses, it was there to do a job. That job was to help this person with severely diminished eyesight to not get hit by busses when crossing the street.

I didn't notice this when it happened, but even the nutsos over in USA that allowed this to happen in the first place mostly closed that door in early 2021 where the Department of Transportation said that service animals have to be genuine service animals and not an emotional support animal. The DoT can still force airlines that operate out of the United States to accept genuine service animals, but these days of getting a doctor's note that states you need an animal for emotional support are thankfully behind us.

src

A real service dog is extremely well-behaved and trained to the point where it boggles the mind that training an animal was even possible to that point. Emotional support animals are just some dog that your friend Steve taught how to shake 4 years ago and other than that just pees and poops on everything in sight.

Now if you have a love for animals and want them to travel with you do not fret. There are still a lot of airlines that have animal policies that will allow you to travel with them but there is a much greater chance that the dog or cat will need to be below deck in luggage storage during the flight. The temperature and pressure of this area is the same as it is in the cabin where you are so rest easy if you are concerned that "fluffy" is going to freeze to death below the plane. That doesn't happen.

I for one am really happy that they did away with this nonsense because people abused the hell out of it and many of them thought it was quite humorous that they had "gamed the system." When people do stuff like this though, they ruin it for the folks out there that genuinely need service animals and therefore I am happy that sensibility has finally kicked in for most of the world and these policies are now behind us.