Althouse: "The whole bizarre situation" — of emotional support animals on airplanes — "is a reminder of why trust matters so much to a well-functioning society."

February 6, 2018

"The whole bizarre situation" — of emotional support animals on airplanes — "is a reminder of why trust matters so much to a well-functioning society."

"The best solution, of course, would be based not on some Transportation Department regulation but on simple trust. People who really needed service animals could then bring on them planes without having to carry documents. Maybe a trust-based system will return at some point. But it won’t return automatically. When trust breaks down and small bits of dishonesty become normal, people need to make a conscious effort to restore basic decency."

Writes David Leonhardt in "It’s Time to End the Scam of Flying Pets" (NYT).

The best solution...

Voltaire said: The best is the enemy of the good. ("Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.")

I don't see how we're supposed to get to trust, when in a huge system, like airline transportation, you're always going to get some cheaters and it doesn't take many — 1%? — to create a problem like the one symbolized by Dexter the emotional-support peacock (picture at the NYT link).

And I'm not convinced trust is the answer. People need to be observant and skeptical.

I'll quote John Stuart Mill now: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

96 comments:

David Docetad said...: It's about meaning and reality. When these start to go, you get dogs on planes for emotional support. Odd as it may seem, there is a direct line between same-sex "marriage", the transgender and pronoun nonsense, and dogs on planes.; 2/6/18, 10:27 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Trust is highly beneficial when the person you are trusting is, in fact, trustworthy.

Trust is highly detrimental when the person you are trusting is, in fact, not trustworthy.

The best solution is based not on trust, but trustworthyness.; 2/6/18, 10:28 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Trust, but verify.; 2/6/18, 10:31 AM
rhhardin said...: My airplane had no seat without flight controls so carrying a dog would be problematic. Fortunately I never had a dog and an airplane at the same time.

Anyway, restricting the pilot's emotional support dog to the jump seat is my advice.; 2/6/18, 10:31 AM
Big Mike said...: If you need an emotional support animal to fly then how about you take the train (or a ship if your destination is Hawaii)?; 2/6/18, 10:33 AM
rhhardin said...: Peacocks come with their own parachute.; 2/6/18, 10:33 AM
bagoh20 said...: We can't even agree on what our words mean anymore - who is male, female, what is animal or mineral. You can't trust when people define words for their own purposes without any limits. My emotional support animal may be in my pants, and who are you to say I can't pet him on an airplane.; 2/6/18, 10:33 AM
Nonapod said...: The best solution, of course, would be based not on some Transportation Department regulation but on simple trust.

Most people can be trusted, but they're not the problem. A small percentage of human beings will always test new systems, try to cheat, try to circumvent the rules. Gaming systems is part of survival and evolution. The downside to being an adaptable species is that these sorts of behaviors often create new problems. It was inevitable that outlier airline passengers would abuse or take advantage of the situation. The only surprise is that people seem surprised that this has happened.; 2/6/18, 10:33 AM
rhhardin said...: Peacocks also clear the plane of ticks, if you let them roam.; 2/6/18, 10:35 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: If you are such an emotional wreck, a fragile bubble about to pop who needs to drag around a pooping, screeching peacock or any other animal in order to go outside of your cave......then you need more than a pet or stuffed teddy bear.

You need help. AND you need to not inflict your problems onto everyone else. We are having a a hared enough time with our own without having to doge peacock poop or deal with your comfort pig/rat/ape/gorilla/alligator. GET help.; 2/6/18, 10:35 AM
Henry said...: The best solution, of course, would be based not on some Transportation Department regulation but on simple trust.

You bring your support cobra and I'll bring my support mongoose.

You bring your support bee colony and I'll bring my support honey badger.; 2/6/18, 10:35 AM
traditionalguy said...: The essence of air travel is keeping good men sitting down and doing nothing until the guards of the aluminium tube they are imprisoned within lands and say that the door is opened.; 2/6/18, 10:37 AM
Deep State Reformer said...: First World Problems are so extremely stupid and yet amusing. If these folks are that unstable maybe they should just stay home? Or else perhaps the emotionally fragile can buy or rent one of those Japanese love robots?; 2/6/18, 10:38 AM
rhhardin said...: Sell Pullman tickets where you share a crate with your dog in the cargo hold.; 2/6/18, 10:40 AM
Henry said...: When did "service animals" become "emotional support animals"?

Interesting. Only dogs are recognized as service animals by the ADA.

This makes sense. Dogs are our longest-established domestic species. They are commensals, adapted to human surroundings. They are intelligent, highly trainable, and come in many breeds.; 2/6/18, 10:41 AM
tcrosse said...: Trust but verify.; 2/6/18, 10:41 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Plus...those who inflict those 'comfort' animals upon us. Do they even think about the comfort of their animals?

How comfortable does a peacock feel being dragged through an airport and then stuffed onto an airplane with a crowd of strangers? Strange environment. Scary situations. No ticks to eat. People gawking, talking, making movements that can be perceived as threatening. Noisy, smelly equipment and big fast moving machinery.

Have some consideration for your animal!

In addition. I'm pretty sure that many of those animals have no idea that they are 'supposed' to be actually doing something to "comfort" their owner. Probably a dog can figure that out, but it takes a very very WELL trained dog to understand that they have a job and to be able to accomplish it. Dogs are smart. A peacock with a pea sized brain.....not so much.

The comfort animal thing is such a ridiculous scam. Get a coloring book and crayons. Sharp objects would probably cause too much stress.; 2/6/18, 10:42 AM
WK said...: No support snakes. I have seen what can happen with “Snakes on a Plane”.

And probably no support turkeys. As god is my witness........; 2/6/18, 10:43 AM
Susan said...: Who's to say my emotional support animal isn't a 20oz bottle of shampoo?

What! You mean I can't take that on the plane because it's too dangerous!?!! I can't live without it!!; 2/6/18, 10:43 AM
stevew said...: They lost me at Emotional Support Animals.

I apologize if this is in the article, but does the human pay for the emotional support animal to be on the plane?

Recently I've noticed people bringing their dogs with them to retail stores such as Home Depot and Starbucks. WTF, perhaps these are emotional support animals too?

-sw; 2/6/18, 10:46 AM
readering said...: Happiness is a warm gun.; 2/6/18, 10:47 AM
California Snow said...: I've never traveled on an airplane with a pet so forgive me if I'm wrong but don't airlines charge extra for transporting pets in the normal way (in a cage)? If they didn't charge extra for that then would people feel the need to be dishonest and try to transport them for free as 'emotional support' pets?; 2/6/18, 10:47 AM
Sebastian said...: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

Some of us didn't do nothing.

We voted to uphold traditional norms. We were outvoted.

We opposed the feminization of the culture. Women won.

We argued that the medicalization of morality was wrong. The therapeutic triumphed.

If progs will now call call BS on the support animal scam, more power to them. Maybe they'll discover that we haven't quite moved beyond good and bad just yet.; 2/6/18, 10:49 AM
robother said...: Love n' marriage go together like...dikes n' dogs. But now with the proliferation of genders, there's no telling what part of the animal kingdom may provide emotional support. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Let xi who is without fetish cast the first stone.; 2/6/18, 10:50 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Seeing eye dog or it goes in a carrier would be my policy.

If somebody is too nervous to fly, they make emotional support drugs for that. Also, boats, cars, and trains.; 2/6/18, 10:52 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I try to be a good Christian especially in the Lord's house, but I may or may not have exchanged a peeved look with Mr. Pants when someone I don't know (he sits on the other side of the sanctuary; what do you want from me?!) began taking a Yorkie on a leash and in a vest up to the communion rail with him a few weeks ago. I have no idea what the story is on that. Maybe it's trained to detect seizures or something? I wouldn't think you'd need to take an emotional support animal with you to a Holy Eucharist service in an Episcopal church, but what do I know.; 2/6/18, 10:52 AM
Henry said...: When trust breaks down and small bits of dishonesty become normal, people need to make a conscious effort to restore basic decency.

There is a failure in terms here. A breakdown in trust is not restored by "decency". It is restored by "honesty."

Decency is often a rationale for dishonesty. Decency sometimes asks of us that we make exceptions to a rule. Bishop Myriel was a decent man who saved Jean Valjean's soul. But a nation of Bishop Myriels would make for madness.

This gets us to the point already made by Althouse. Decency doesn't scale.; 2/6/18, 10:53 AM
David Docetad said...: "Who's to say my emotional support animal isn't a 20oz bottle of shampoo?

What! You mean I can't take that on the plane because it's too dangerous!?!! I can't live without it!!"

Bingo. A properly trained attack dog could do a lot of damage...; 2/6/18, 10:54 AM
retail lawyer said...: I had a 1958 Lambretta motor scooter that had absolutely no provision to lock it. You could not get a cable through a wheel or anything else on the machine. And it had no ignition key! It was obviously made for a high-trust society.

In modern San Francisco, people use multiple locks on a bicycle even when it is in a secure parking facility.

There is no trust. It is an historical artifact.; 2/6/18, 10:55 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: You say you need some "emotional support," sure, how about a bottle of Jack Daniel's?; 2/6/18, 10:56 AM
Achilles said...: Trust is going to work just fine. If an airline is stupid enough to let some asshole be an asshole and bring a peacock on the plane I will not use that airline again.

The airline makes money and gets paid to police the assholes. They can charge a nice big fee.

It also points out why laws forcing things to be a particular way based off the requests of small and whiny groups of people don’t end well. They encourage precisely this sort of asshattery.; 2/6/18, 11:00 AM
tcrosse said...: I got your emotional support right here.; 2/6/18, 11:04 AM
Michael K said...: "Recently I've noticed people bringing their dogs with them to retail stores such as Home Depot and Starbucks."

We bring our basset hound into Home Depot, especially in summer when it is too hot to leave her in the car. It's pretty common in Tucson. We do not bring her into a place with food, like Costco or Starbucks (Not that I would be caught dead in Starbucks) but we see many others doing the same. She is OK left at home but loves to ride in the car.; 2/6/18, 11:05 AM
Michael K said...: "There is no trust. It is an historical artifact."

The US, and much of Europe, used to be "a high trust society."

This correlates with property rights, honest elections and social peace.

We re losing this since Vietnam, which history will show was an inflection point in our nation.; 2/6/18, 11:11 AM
Temujin said...: Some creative, entrepreneurial type from some airline should see an untapped market and develop a 'Pets OK' flight route. Start with shorter routes to test it and work out the kinks. Say...NYC to Boston. And San Francisco to Seattle. You would probably start to see planes crammed with dogs and cats, and not a few ferrets. There's always going to be that person craving attention who walks on with their pet peacock or duck-billed platypus. Who wouldn't love to share their 18" deep row with a pit bull? ("honestly, he's very sweet.").
Once the shorter routes have worked out the details (such as snakes on a plane not only sucks in movies, it sucks in reality), they can then move to longer flights. I recommend NYC to San Francisco. Who better to explore the wonders of Pet Flying?
Then everyone can just stop buying those stupid 'Serenity Dog' vests and just let their dogs be...dogs. Probably going to need some artificial grass in place of row 44.; 2/6/18, 11:11 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I suppose someday I will enter a plane with more animals than people aboard.
Amtrak does not allow comfort or emotional support animals.; 2/6/18, 11:16 AM
Fernandinande said...: The best solution, of course, is to announce that anyone who needs an emotional support animal is too crazy to get on the plane.

+

She takes Baby Jesus everywhere with her, whether it’s out to the shops to get almond milk, for a ride on the bus, or to the club to get crunk.

Baby Jesus found a forever (and ever) home with Lisa when he was sadly hit as an infant. Instead of him rotting at the side of the road, he was immortalised as taxidermy, and given to Lisa as a gift one Christmas.

‘I have had Baby Jesus for two years now, I signed the final adoption papers on New Year’s Eve 2015,’ Lisa tells Metro.co.uk.; 2/6/18, 11:21 AM
MD Greene said...: If you've ever heard a peacock's loud, obnoxious squawk, you would not want to be stuck on an airplane with one.

BTW, this has been a "thing" for several years now. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed; 2/6/18, 11:23 AM
mockturtle said...: Fernandistein suggests: The best solution, of course, is to announce that anyone who needs an emotional support animal is too crazy to get on the plane.

This. There are enough crazy people on planes as it is.; 2/6/18, 11:25 AM
TrespassersW said...: If you think a freaking peacock is an "emotional support animal," you should be in therapy (preferably with someone like Jordan Peterson who won't brook any nonsense) instead of on an airliner.

I have a niece who has a service dog to help her deal with her bipolar disorder, so I am absolutely on board with making allowances for people who have service dogs. But there are a boatload of people who have seen service dogs and decided they want their own just because they "deserve" it. Screw that.; 2/6/18, 11:25 AM
mockturtle said...: If you've ever heard a peacock's loud, obnoxious squawk, you would not want to be stuck on an airplane with one.

My sister had a bunch of peacocks [and peahens] for years and, while beautiful, they were the most annoying creatures imaginable.; 2/6/18, 11:27 AM
stevew said...: Ah, thanks Michael K, I see. That explanation, while I understand it, strikes me as a ridiculous rationalization for your imposing your dog on me in a public place.

-sw; 2/6/18, 11:27 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: rhhardin said...
Peacocks come with their own parachute.

2/6/18, 10:33 AM

As God is my witness, I thought peacocks could fly. (About as well as turkeys.); 2/6/18, 11:43 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: This has got me thinking about all those people with emotional support handguns.; 2/6/18, 11:45 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: The only animals that should be permitted in the passenger area of planes are seeing eye dogs. That is it. Everyone else should just have to deal with being separated from Fluffy the cat or Fred the support iguana for a few hours.

I'm sick of people who act as if they're the only people in the world.; 2/6/18, 11:46 AM
Mr. Fabulous said...: (World Famous Lurker says....)
"I'll quote John Stuart Mill now: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.""

The Professor's last line immediately had me saying to myself "didn't Edmund Burke say essentially the same thing a century earlier?" - "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" is supposed to be a famous quote of his. Yet when I go look it up, Wiki says that there is no conclusive evidence that he ever said or wrote that phrase: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke

The John Stuart Mill quote is referenced in the Wiki article.; 2/6/18, 11:48 AM
wholelottasplainin said...: Delta Airlines has announced its support animal-friendly policy:

http://www.thewinooski.com/index.php/2018/02/01/delta-to-allow-emotional-support-moose-on-flights/

heh; 2/6/18, 11:50 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I miss having a high trust society in which people could generally be expected to respect order and cleanliness, and to not to do things that impose on others' comfort, in the public space.

I live in a low-trust local culture and it's awful. You can't trust people to not let their dogs crap on your lawn, steal your Christmas lights, use profane language in public, listen to loud annoying phone videos with no headphones, eat junk food in waiting rooms and leave messes behind, leave dirty diapers and packaging material in parking lots, let their bratty kids yell and run in stores, get drunk and knock down stop signs and drive into people's houses, take over public parks with blaring music and Bud Lite cans, on and on. It's under the same umbrella as being able to trust people to realize that their animals are going to bother other people so of course they should leave them at home.

I know I sound like a grouch and an elitist but come on. I'm not even 40, was raised poor, and no way would my mom let me behave like any of the above. I was raised to keep my voice down and my hands to myself, to stay out of other people's spaces unless invited, to respect posted signs, and to clean up after myself. That was the general social expectation of everyone regardless of station when and where I grew up.; 2/6/18, 11:50 AM
AllenS said...: We can't even agree on what our words mean anymore

Yes, and it all started back when two homo men wanted to get "married". Married used to mean a union between a man and a woman.; 2/6/18, 11:53 AM
jimbino said...: It's time to end discriminatory policies that favor the disabled or married people. Why shouldn't disabled folks simply be required to pay the usual pet fee for bringing along an animal and married folks pay for special privileges like benefits of FMLA? It should be recognized as immoral to require other passengers and singles to bear the burden of paying for meeting the special needs of the disabled. The same holds for privileged parking spaces. Justice would require "handicapped" parking spaces to be available to all comers; let the bleeding hearts subsidize them for the disabled or anyone else if they wish. Next we'll see "handicapped" lanes on toll-roads and freeways, I suppose, which would also cause economic distortions and unnecessarily inconvenience almost all drivers.

Who died and left gummint free to practice widespread discrimination and choose the winners and losers in the socialist benefit lottery?; 2/6/18, 11:59 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Next we'll see "handicapped" lanes on toll-roads and freeways, I suppose, which would also cause economic distortions and unnecessarily inconvenience almost all drivers.

I for one would be ECSTATIC if we could confine handicapped plates to one lane so they would stay the hell out of my way.; 2/6/18, 12:12 PM
Big Mike said...: This has got me thinking about all those people with emotional support handguns.

@Left Bank, good thing I was through with my morning coffee! Yes, I can see it now. “Officer this is my emotional support .357 Smith & Wesson. I just cannot board without it!”; 2/6/18, 12:14 PM
Gahrie said...: Studies have proven that the more "diverse" a population is, the less trust there is and the more tribal people get.

It becomes "I can't trust you to be considerate of me, so I'm not going to be considerate of you".; 2/6/18, 12:15 PM
320Busdriver said...: Most airlines are cracking down on this problem, including the one I work for.

On the van to the airport the other day we encountered a family of 4(2 young kids) plus their beautiful 5 yo goldendoodle Autumn as they loaded many large bags. They were moving from CA to Columbia for 2 years. I asked if they were able to keep her in the cabin on their flights, but no, she was about to ride in the cargo hold for sfo-iah-bog. The dad said she was struggling with the elevator in their hotel so hopefully she was not traumatized on the a/c and is happily adjusting to a new life in SA.

Pets in the cabin IS getting out of control.; 2/6/18, 12:17 PM
Michael K said...: "That explanation, while I understand it, strikes me as a ridiculous rationalization for your imposing your dog on me in a public place."

I have yet to encounter a person who does not love basset hounds. I guess I missed you. Half the people we encounter in Home Depot stop and want to pet her.

Let me know if you get to Tucson.

There are lots of dogs in Home Depot, especially in summer. I think it's local thing.

One more reason why I love Tucson.; 2/6/18, 12:18 PM
pacwest said...: We travel with a Service Dog that is trained and certified to assist my wife with mobility. She is unable to walk more than a couple of hundred yards before a long rest without him. With him she can walk a half mile or more. We always fly first class bulkhead row to minimize impact on other travelers (80 pound dog). We try to never abuse others sensitivities when possible by using a wheelchair, which the dog is trained to pull when I'm not with her, but without his pulling her while walking the disease would progress faster. We never, ever use him in food stores.

We have rarely been asked by the airlines to show papers, but appreciate it when they do. The emotional support animal fiasco is ruining it for those folk who need a dog for a disability and it pisses me off. I've seen way too many little Fluffys in Service Dog vests in places they don't belong, and have confronted several (which you are not legally allowed to do). Most just run away. Only once have I run into an epilepsy dog.

Run a search on service dog. The top results will be a package of vest and papers that allow you to scam your pet onto a plane. The ADA rules need to be clarified and much more stringent.; 2/6/18, 12:19 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: So, I can't take a pen knife on a plane, but I can take a pit bull? Howabout a basket full of scorpions?; 2/6/18, 12:24 PM
Luke Lea said...: I'll quote John Stuart Mill now: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

Isn't the original from Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." But then I guess you were not talking about evil so Mill's paraphrase works better. Maybe somebody expressed the same basic idea before Burke. Seems likely.; 2/6/18, 12:27 PM
podpolia said...: A trust-based system is fine - but the society has to be able to enforce it. Historically in high-trust societies, the community as a whole has the ability to punish those people who do inconsiderate things. Think of a small town - if you go around pissing people off, you're going to burn a lot of bridges and many people will refuse to interact with you. Do that once or twice, and you'll learn to follow the society's guidelines.
As a larger and more urban culture, we're moving away from social pressures to conform to a standard of behavior. In a large enough group of people, you can behave in whatever negative ways you want and simply move on when enough of them catch on to you. There's a word for people like this, actually: psychopaths.
I think it's telling that at the same time as the political left is trying to sell government involvement as the cure for all social ills, they're condemning any social corrective forces outside the government - 'shaming', 'marginalizing', etc. And living in a society that is increasingly socially fragmented, how much power will the government ultimately be able to obtain over social control?; 2/6/18, 12:28 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Emotional support hookers are next.; 2/6/18, 12:30 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Yancey Ward said...
Emotional support hookers are next.

2/6/18, 12:30 PM

Blow up dolls.; 2/6/18, 12:31 PM
320Busdriver said...: "So, I can't take a pen knife on a plane, but I can take a pit bull?"

The pitbull, or any dog with a short nose won't be allowed in the cargo hold, but will be allowed in the cabin as an emotional support pet.

Sugar gliders are prohibited as esp's; 2/6/18, 12:39 PM
320Busdriver said...: Trust, but verify; 2/6/18, 12:45 PM
MadisonMan said...: If it doesn't bother me on a plane, I don't really care if it happens. This extends to support animals. Why should this rise to the level of me caring about it?

I've had dogs in the same aisle as me on flights. Little things, 10-pounders, in porta-kennels that fit under the seat. (This has happened the most to me on flights into/out of Texas. Make of that what you will)

Maybe if someone with a support dog sat next to me on a long-haul flight, I'd care. Or maybe I'd take out a pen and occasionally poke the dog. Or maybe I'd just continue to read the book I had, and curse the lack of upgrade to First Class, again.; 2/6/18, 12:49 PM
Dude1394 said...: It's all about getting over.
Politicians constantly get over, they use influence and inside info to enrich themselves.
The top 1% get over. Celebrities get over. Professors get over. Journalists get over.

Now we also know that all democrats get over with help from the FBI/DOJ and the democrat-media.; 2/6/18, 12:52 PM
stevew said...: Many dog people assume everyone likes dogs, especially theirs. I think a more accurate explanation for your experience is that people are just being polite.

Aren't Bassett Hounds in the sub group of dogs that slobber? If so, I do thank you for keeping yours out of places that sell and serve food.

-sw; 2/6/18, 12:58 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Mr. Fabulous

That’s the same route I took.; 2/6/18, 1:07 PM
cubanbob said...: Jet Blue is pretty reasonable about this. When the the wife and I travel with the dog (under 12lbs) we usually get charged $100 for the dog plus we buy the middle seat. The pooch is snug in her travel bag and as as long as she gets a few pats on the head every now and then she is quiet and not noticeable. I wish most passengers were as well behaved as my dog.; 2/6/18, 1:16 PM
PatHMV said...: There's a lot of trust required. Part of the trust is for the public and, in particular, for activist groups, to trust that if an airline employee says: "No, you can't bring your damn service peacock on board the airplane," that the employee is not being some anti-disability bigot.

The airline employee has no reason to trust that they will be given any benefit of the doubt in any situation. The expectation today is, of necessity, that anything you do to just about anybody could be the subject of a massive inquiry by the public at large, spurred on by activists with agendas.

We don't need laws saying that transgendered women can use the woman's restroom, as long as we have some willingness to accept that if, say, a Target employee calls out a guy with a beard and wearing a dress to not hang around in the lady's room for an hour, that doesn't mean the employee is being anti-trans.

Part of the problem with this type of trust, part of the reason we feel the need to establish written rules for everything, is because society and many individuals within society have in fact been bigoted, prejudiced, or biased for so long.

Civil society is not easy, and it can collapse far sooner than a lot of people think.; 2/6/18, 1:23 PM
David said...: I suppose that my dog is an emotional support dog. She is getting old, as I am, and more quiet but I love having her around. She is a gentle spirit and comforting presence.

My wife and I will never put her in a cargo crate to fly. There is simply too much that can go wrong, and though she is a very calm dog the experience would do her no good even if routine.

I am now facing some incurable and life threatening medical issues. The way of the world. There are some places I need to go by air, and it would be comforting to bring our dog. Nevertheless I am emotionally capable of traveling without the dog without serious difficulty.

I suppose my doctor would write a "prescription" for the dog if I asked, but he is an honorable by the book guy and I would not ask him to make an untrue statement.

As a result I feel some resentment when other people bring dogs that seem (to me) unnecessary.

There is really no answer to this. Personal choices. The way of the world.; 2/6/18, 1:27 PM
gbarto said...: My biggest concern with animals on planes is the horror stories about airlines forgetting to pressurize the cargo hold. And the person who makes the mistake is not the poor bastard in customer service who has to break the news that Fido froze and suffocated. My animals have always stayed home when I traveled, but were I trying to get a dog across the country, I'd want it in the seat next to me (for which I would pay, of course), not to bet its life on people who don't seem particularly disturbed when they deliver you to LA and your baggage to Tulsa. This is another element of trust: It makes a lot of sense to lie about your dog being a service animal if you don't trust the airline with it.; 2/6/18, 1:29 PM
David said...: I have many friends whom I trust with many things, and a few whom I completely trust with anything. These few may not be inherently more trustworthy than the others but my experience with them gives me greater confidence. It is one of the great feelings in the world to know such persons.; 2/6/18, 1:34 PM
L Day said...: If you can't face flying on an airplane without the company of your emotional support animal, perhaps you're just not cut out to fly on airplanes. We're not all capable of doing all things, to suggest that we are is just more lunacy.; 2/6/18, 1:36 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Unknown said...
Many dog people assume everyone likes dogs, especially theirs."

I have an old Golden Retriever and most people rightly assume he is harmless and gentle, but people who have had frightening experiences with dogs can be fearful of all dogs. Other people are allergic to them and still others are just not dog or animal lovers or don't want fur on their clothes. I try to bear that in mind when I go anywhere with my dog.; 2/6/18, 1:52 PM
readering said...: If folks only knew how often people get bitten by dogs--especially small dogs (saying as one who learned after being involved in a dog bite case as landlord to a tenant sued for dog bite of visiting salesperson by tiny maltese).; 2/6/18, 2:05 PM
Jim at said...: There are lots of dogs in Home Depot, especially in summer. I think it's local thing.

No. It's not. We have a lot of them here in the Olympia/Tumwater/Lacey area, too.

While it's way down on my list of annoyances, I've never understood why people feel the need to bring their pets into the store. Any store.; 2/6/18, 2:07 PM
dreams said...: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

Well, the Dems are fortunate to have the media but it's not good for our country.; 2/6/18, 2:08 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: One of the big things that we notice when we bounce between rural MT and urban AZ is that the former is high trust, while the latter is not. Leave the truck unlocked in rural MT, with the keys on the console. And a friend leaves his truck at boat landings with the keys on one of the tires. He figures that if it is missing when he gets there, someone needed it more than he did. Enjoyable.; 2/6/18, 2:11 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "I am now facing some incurable and life threatening medical issues."

I am sorry to read that, David.; 2/6/18, 2:18 PM
CWJ said...: "I am sorry to read that, David."

Same here.; 2/6/18, 2:33 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Actually 3 sets of regulations

Ada - public places
FHA - fair housing act
Aircraft

And two types of support animals:

1. Service - no documentation. Includes dogs and miniature horses. Your allowed to ask 2 questions.
2. Emotional support - any animal and a note from a $35 online mill is good enough

Irvine company paid $100k when they questioned the documentation of an emotional support dog...; 2/6/18, 2:53 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Some of the fines for apartments:

$100k nyc 2017
$72k No ca 2017
$25k - Reno 2017
$650k nyc 2015

Just watched a webinar on this.; 2/6/18, 2:55 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: The Russians accustomed Laika, the Space Dog, to the noise & furor of a rocket launch by putting her in a cage on a launch pad for several weeks. Laika was not euthanized in orbit. She was cooked to death when something went wrong with her space capsule.
I imagine any dog that has been transported in the cargo hold of an airliner would sympathize with Laika, the Space Dog.; 2/6/18, 2:57 PM
Michael K said...: Many dog people assume everyone likes dogs, especially theirs. I think a more accurate explanation for your experience is that people are just being polite.

Aren't Bassett Hounds in the sub group of dogs that slobber? If so, I do thank you for keeping yours out of places that sell and serve food.

I don't have as much investment in this as you seem to with your dog hate.

The dog is always on a leash and I don't let her approach people. They approach her and want to pet her.

It's interesting to see the reaction of some.; 2/6/18, 3:32 PM
Michael K said...: I've never understood why people feel the need to bring their pets into the store. Any store.

It's not a need. If you lived in Tucson in summer you might have a better idea.

I had never done it in California but found it was common here.

One of many reasons why I like Tucson better than California.; 2/6/18, 3:34 PM
Jaq said...: Fly between NYC and West Palm Beach some time and look at the double row of wheelchairs to get on the plain, that nobody seems to need to get off.; 2/6/18, 4:22 PM
Mr. Fabulous said...: (World Famous Lurker says....)

Professor, reading your blog, and the various comments, helps to reinforce the habit of checking "facts" and "quotes", in order to avoid public embarrassment. For example, any regular reader of your blog knows that you, a retired law professor, regularly consult a dictionary. (OED, unlinkable!) If a retired law professor regularly checks her sources, that's probably a good habit to emulate.; 2/6/18, 4:27 PM
Fernandinande said...: Muslim who hates dogs gets a seeing-eye-horse from Brit taxpayers.; 2/6/18, 5:18 PM
stevew said...: I don't hate dogs, or cats, or other domesticated animals, I've just chosen not to live with them and don't appreciate having them pushed on me in public places by others. That's all.

When I tell people this, especially the pet people, they immediately assume I hate pets, just as you do. To me, bringing your beloved little snookems into a public place is a selfish and rude act, no matter how it is you choose to rationalize it.

Living in Boston I am thankful that your behavior is more common in Tuscon.

-sw; 2/6/18, 5:21 PM
Oso Negro said...: Perhaps if you are sufficiently fucked up as to need an emotional support peacock you have no business flying.; 2/6/18, 6:10 PM
Robert said...: Galileo said humans are merely fillers up of privies. These things just shit wherever they want. And the human servants bend down - if they're in a good mood at the time and pick up the shit of their totally useless animals and deposit it in the nearest garbage can. Being a garbage man has taken on a whole new dimension.; 2/6/18, 6:47 PM
Michael K said...: bringing your beloved little snookems into a public place is a selfish and rude act, no matter how it is you choose to rationalize it.

So, where should I bring her? I can't walk her, by your rules. I have to lock her up in a closet, maybe ?

An interesting profile you present.

Haters seems a pretty good term.; 2/6/18, 7:56 PM
Michael K said...: You certainly do not want to visit Paris or Germany where dogs are welcome in restaurants.

I guess you would be comfortable, in China, except perhaps at dinner.; 2/6/18, 8:00 PM
Nancy said...: Per Times pick commenter Tom, bringing your pet on board is "the same mindset that elects a Donald Trump". HAHAHAHA!; 2/7/18, 6:21 AM
Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...: Trusting and being "observant and skeptical" are not mutually exclusive, indeed some might say the former needs the latter. And, as the late Ronald Reagan said, "Trust, but verify." Trust is good, but only after observing and reserving judgement. Otherwise, what you have is "unquestioning trust" and when has that ever been used to describe a good thing?; 2/7/18, 10:35 AM
Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...: The ease with which one can obtain a California Medical Marijuana license is startling and indicates to me that the new rules and regs will be mere speedbumps to those determined to fly with an emotional support tortoise.; 2/7/18, 11:03 AM