Dog craps on plane, forces emergency landing...

They're thought processes are suspect, aren't they?

 

It is just odd to me that people would abuse the need for a service dog. I honestly had never heard of that. But I guess some people will abuse anything if given the chance.

 

Fayr point.

 

It's a recent trend, and the people who do it might be convinced that they're not doing anything wrong, but it's obviously happening. Service dogs are no longer just seeing eye dogs. They're often "emotional support animals" who follow kids and emotionally fragile adults everywhere. It's ridiculous, especially when you consider how some schools have banned peanuts and damn near anything else that can cause an allergy attack, but have to let the dogs into the school.
One of my high school classmates on Facebook has a son who seems to have some rare, unknown and incurable disease, as well as a huge, 70-pound "emotional support" dog. The principal of the kid's school said no to having the dog in class, and she was pitching a fit about it. Very annoying.

 

All the coda kitty can say is that cat shit never cleared an airplane.

 

I should bring an emotional support ho on my next flight and join the mile high club.

 

The VA uses assistance dogs to help veterans with PTSD, mainly to try to restore emotional connection and keep them grounded with real-world responsibilities and companionship.

 

People abuse the "need" for a service dog for the same reason they abuse anything else, BECAUSE THEY CAN. We've crafted a society where some people think everything is about their personal comfort, and to hell with considering how their actions will affect anyone else's comfort and convenience.

It's the same instinct that possesses an able-bodied person to borrow a disabled relative's handicapped placard to use in their car in order to get a better parking space. Some people --- and the number is increasing every day --- will try to get away with as much as society and authorities will allow them to.

"Emotional support" dog policies are just one of many such examples.

 

A former colleague of mine had a son with diabetes. He is also an athlete good enough to get offers for D-1 college soccer scholarships. He doesn't look disabled at all.

However, when it came time for his son to go to college, they got him a service dog who was trained to detect when his blood sugars were off and need to medicate. He was away from his normal support system (family) who could easily tell when he was getting off and they wanted to make sure he didn't have problems at school. I am not sure if he takes the dog with him everywhere or on planes, but the dog is a service dog and you wouldn't know it from seeing the kid.

I agree that some people abuse service dogs but there are also very legitimate reasons for service dogs that can't be see with the naked eye.

 

Amen, Steak. Well stated, brother.

 

I used to have a Rottweiler as a service dog because I had trouble asserting myself.

 

When I was a kid there was a lady in town who trained service dogs. She took them everywhere and treated them just like a service dog, but the first few weeks were usually pretty rough. I remember her new dogs peeing or howling in church a few times.