[nagdu] Crossing the line from pet to service animal

[Ginger Kutsch]

Crossing the line from pet to service animal

Gary Stoller, USA TODAY 8:03 a.m. EDT August 3, 2014

Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2014/08/03/fliers-scam-airlines
-pets-service-dogs/13325733/

 

 

Frequent business travelers and at least one airline say they have noticed
an uptick in the number of service dogs in aircraft cabins, raising
questions for others as to whether a number of dogs that are truly pets are
being passed off as service dogs.

 

Such fliers don't want keep their dogs in a carrier case in the cabin or aim
to avoid paying a fee for their pets, says Jeanne Hampl of the Assistance
Dog Club of Puget Sound in Gig Harbor, Wash.

 

"There's so much fraud out there," says Hampl, secretary of the club, which
helps members train service animals. "People do it all the time - say it's a
service dog when it's not - and create so many access problems for people
with legitimate service animals."

 

People with a legitimate need for a service dog may include blind
individuals, paraplegics, amputees and others with "visible disabilities,"
but travelers with "invisible" disabilities - such as hearing or emotional
problems, diabetes or seizures - may also need them, Hampl says.

 

Department of Transportation regulations require airlines to allow service
dogs on flights without charge.

 

According to the regulations, passengers are permitted to board a flight
with a service dog - other than one for emotional or psychiatric support -
by presenting an airline with written documentation or providing "credible
verbal assurances" that the dog is needed for a disability.

 

Airlines, the rules say, can limit service dogs for emotional and
psychiatric support to passengers "with a diagnosed mental or emotional
disorder." Airlines may require such passengers to provide documentation
from a licensed mental health professional or a medical doctor

 

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Caitlin Harvey says the agency "has
received some anecdotal reports of passengers traveling with service animals
who appeared to some observers to have no disability."

 

Harvey cautions that "many disabilities are hidden, and passengers aren't
required "to prove the legitimacy of their need for a service animal to
other passengers."

 

Carol Glazer, president of the National Organization on Disability, says the
use of service dogs "has expanded dramatically over the years." Service dogs
"can help their owners function more effectively in life and in the
workplace" and gain access to airplanes and other places "they couldn't
otherwise navigate."

 

George Hurden, a USA TODAY Road Warrior, who volunteers travel information,
says he has seen service animals on four of the 16 flights he has flown this
year.

 

"I have seen some very healthy and capable-looking people with dogs in tow
on flights and in airport lounges," says Hurden, who lives in Cheshire,
Conn., and works in the plastics industry.

 

Some dogs traveling as service animals were "lap-sized" and appeared to be
pets, he says.

 

"I have no problem with service dogs being able to travel with their
owners," Hurden says. "They tend to be very well-behaved and mild-mannered."

 

Road Warrior Sally Smoczynski of Burr Ridge, Ill., is glad that service dogs
enable their owners to fly and "be more independent."

 

Sometimes, though, she sees an owner "with no visible disability"
accompanied by a small dog and wonders whether the animal is a legitimate
service dog. Smoczynski, who works in the information security industry,
says she has learned to not make a quick judgment.

 

"I have learned that being disabled and needing the use of a service animal
does not require a physical disability," she says. "I work a lot in the
Washington metro area where a lot of veterans and others suffer from
crippling anxieties. These wonderfully trained dogs provide a great
service."

 

JetBlue spokeswoman Tamara Young says the airline has seen an increase in
emotional support and service animals on its flights but hasn't noticed an
increase of fliers trying to misrepresent their pets as service animals.

 

Lee Shannon, a real estate agent In Park City, Utah, says she has "several
times" seen people - including two she has traveled with - misrepresenting
pets as service animals.

 

"It's a pet peeve of mine," she says.

 

Shannon says the people she traveled with were not trying to save money.
They are pet lovers who simply wanted their dogs next to them or on their
lap.

 

Saving money may be a motivation for many others.

 

"For most who try to falsely represent their animals as service dogs," Hampl
says, "it's to save money."

 

WHAT IT COSTS

 

Airline fees for a dog in the passenger cabin and in the cargo hold on
one-way domestic flights:

 

American Airlines: $125 cabin; $175 cargo hold

 

Delta Air Lines: $125; $200

 

Southwest Airlines: $95; dogs not allowed in cargo hold

 

United Airlines: $125; $189-$549, depending on weight of dog

 

Source: USA TODAY reporting