[NAGDU] ANIMAL KINGDOM ALONG FOR A RIDE.

[Ginger Kutsch]

ANIMAL KINGDOM ALONG FOR A RIDE. 

Surge in passengers with support critters is prompting a crackdown by
airlines. 

By Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times 

June 3, 2018

 

A regal peacock was barred from accompanying its owner on a United Airlines
flight departing from Newark, N.J., in January, but not, well, for being a
regal peacock. It was simply too large. But another flightless fowl, a
turkey, got the go-ahead two years ago to fly with its owner on Delta Air
Lines. And then there was the mallard, wearing velcro red shoes, that became
an internet celebrity when the duck was photographed in 2016 flying with its
caretaker in North Carolina. 

The animals that flew didn't cost their owners a dime and didn't spend their
time locked up in a cage. Instead, the critters were deemed necessary by a
medical professional to provide emotional support, which meant they could
cuddle up in the laps of their presumably anxious owners -- just inches from
other fliers. 

"This thing has gotten out of hand," said Jeff Younggren, a psychologist and
clinical professor at the University of New Mexico, who has conducted
several studies on the subject of emotional support animals. Of course, most
support animals aren't ducks or monkeys or anything else exotic. They are
beloved household dogs and cats, but a consensus is emerging among airlines,
federal regulators and some in the therapeutic community that there are far
too many of them. The number of passengers flying with emotional support
animals on the nation's airlines has surged. 

United Airlines, one of the biggest carriers, saw a 75% increase last year
compared with 2016. The trend has been accompanied by more incidents of
animals urinating, defecating, biting, barking and lunging on planes. A
passenger was even mauled by a 50-pound dog on a Delta flight last year. 

The increase has prompted several air carriers this year to require
additional measures to travel with such animals, such as documentation
submitted 48 hours in advance ensuring that the animals will not pose a
safety hazard on the plane. Federal regulators also are considering adopting
new rules, including limiting the species that can travel as emotional
support animals. 

Meanwhile, psychologists and therapists are wrestling with a surge in
patients requesting written diagnoses that they need to fly with support
animals. "We don't have existing standards for how to evaluate them," said
Younggren, who on a flight recently to Atlanta sat in front of a couple both
cradling emotional support dogs. 

Psychologists and airline officials blame the surge on passengers who are
trying to take advantage of a gap in the federal Air Carrier Access Act,
which allows people with mental-health disabilities to fly on a plane with
an animal free of charge if it alleviates their condition. The 1986 law
fails to outline the guidelines and procedures for diagnosing a person who
needs to be accompanied by an emotional support animal. Before the latest
crackdown, most airlines simply required passengers to produce a letter from
a medical professional attesting to the need for the passenger to fly with
an animal. Receiving a letter from a therapist who certifies the need for an
emotional support animal also lets renters -- under the Fair Housing Act --
keep an animal in a home or apartment that has a no-pets policy. Emotional
support animals are not required to have specific training, unlike service
animals, which must complete training to be assigned to aid someone who is
blind, deaf or has some other physical disability. 

"What has happened is it has been a misuse of the grayness in the law," said
Aubrey Fine, a psychologist in Claremont and author of several books on
animal-assisted therapy. 

For psychiatrists, the "grayness" in the law puts them in an ethical bind:
Do they write a letter that lets their patients fly with a pet even without
diagnosis guidelines or do they deny the letter and create a conflict with a
patient they must continue treating? "I get this request quite often, at
least once a month," said Michi Fu, a psychologist based in Pasadena. "It
puts me in a weird bind. There is no agreement among therapists on who
should create the guidelines, though some psychologists suggest a
professional organization, such as the American Psychological Assn., would
be best suited to do the job. 

** The association has responded to the dilemma by publishing an article
that warns therapists to think twice before writing such diagnosis letters.
With many psychologists reluctant to write diagnosis letters, dozens of
businesses have sprouted up on the internet, offering a written diagnosis
that they say can be used to get animals on airplanes and in apartments that
ban pets. Such websites say they can provide a written diagnosis within 24
hours, via email, after only a five- to 10-minute phone conversation with a
"mental health professional" plus a fee of as little as $80. 

Some sites also sell dog collars and leashes emblazoned with the words
"support dog" for $15 to $22 each. A site called United Support Animals
proclaims: "Fly with your pet in the cabin of an airplane at no cost. Keep
your pet in any housing even if there is a 'no pet policy. Say goodbye to
pet security deposits forever. A representative for the website did not
return calls for comment. 

To help root out bogus diagnosis letters, United Airlines recently began to
require that passengers who want to travel with an emotional support animal
include the name and contact information of the mental health professional
that diagnosed the passenger. The airline said it is contacting the mental
health professional to verify the diagnosis letter. "We want to work to
prevent those who want to take advantage of that option," said Charles
Hobart, a spokesman for United Airlines. Delta, American and Alaska, along
with other airlines, have also imposed additional requirements, such as
proof that the animal is healthy and not a threat to other passengers. 

Some airlines have banned certain species such as hedgehogs, goats, ferrets,
chickens, birds of prey and snakes. If the passengers meet the airline's
requirements, the fliers can keep the pets on their laps or at their feet in
the cabin without paying the usual in-cabin animal transport fee, which can
range from $75 to $200. 

But meeting the new requirements may not be so easy. Julia Annin of Tiburon,
Calif., said a major airline refused to let her fly with her emotional
support dog on a recent flight from San Francisco to Rhode Island even
though she had a legitimate letter from her therapist. "They told me to my
face that it was fake," she said, adding that she was forced to pay to put
her chihuahua-terrier mix dog in a carrier. 

The controversy gets even murkier because some mental health experts say
that scientific studies do not agree that animals play a therapeutic role
when they fly with a patient. 

"Little empirical data exists to support the conclusion that [emotional
support animals] are effective in mitigating psychological disorders and
related problems, and empirical research that does exist is inconsistent,
sparse and emerging," said a study by Younggren and two colleagues published
by the American Psychological Assn. 

** in 2016. When asked to respond to the controversy, the American
Psychological Assn. pointed to an article that appeared in the latest issue
of Good Practice, a magazine the group publishes for practitioners. The
article, written by Connie Galietti, director of legal and professional
affairs for the group, urged psychologists to think of the ethical and
practical problems that may result from writing a diagnosis letter.
"Remember, your letter is stating that the patient's diagnosis substantially
impacts a life activity," the article says. 

"Can you honestly and objectively make that determination? Does an
[emotional support animal] truly minimize the impact of the patient's
problem, or is this just a way of allowing a beloved pet to be able to live
with your patient, or allow the patient to avoid paying airline pet
transport fees? If you have reservations about any of these issues, you
probably shouldn't write the letter. 

Allowing emotional support animals on a plane may alleviate the stress for
one passenger but some therapists warn that the presence of an animal can
create trauma for other passengers who have allergies or a fear of animals.
"You run the risk of having individuals that have phobias of dogs and they
are exposed to the animals in a confined space," said David A. Songco, a
Milwaukee psychologist who says he has received many requests for diagnosis
letters. "So there are many perspectives on this. Songco said he has
rejected all but one request for a diagnosis. He said he felt comfortable
writing a diagnosis letter for a woman he was treating specifically about
her fear of flying. Songco worries that the surge of requests for diagnosis
letters will mean that people who legitimately need to travel with an
emotional support animal will face more restrictions and added requirements
for documentation. 

Katelynn Ballard, a college student in Conway, Ark., was paired up with a
German Shepard about a year ago to help her cope with anxiety, depression
and other mental-health issues. She said her dog, Ares, was trained for
months to come to her side when she begins to show symptoms of her disorder.
"I don't think I could function and be the person that I am without him,"
Ballard said, adding that she hasn't flown on a commercial plane with the
dog but is confident he would be a comforting travel partner. "There are
people who really need an emotional support animal," she said. "I don't feel
it's fair that people are ruining it for people who really need that. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been wrestling with the subject of
animals on planes for years. 

In 2016, the agency created a committee of airline representatives and
disabled-rights advocates to help decide what animals should be permitted on
planes and what documents are required to prove the animals are needed. 

The group, the Accessible Air Transportation Advisory Committee, could not
reach a consensus and the panel was disbanded. 

At the request of several airlines and advocacy groups, the department last
month issued a new request for public comments before the agency tries again
to adopt rules to address the surge of animals on planes. Brad Morris,
director of government relations for a North Carolina group called
Psychiatric Service Dog Partners, was a member of the previous committee and
is not optimistic that a set of rules will be adopted that will make
airlines and advocacy groups happy. His group suggests airline passengers
who want to fly with a service or emotional support animal be required to
answer a series of online questions about themselves and their animal --
eliminating the need to visit a therapist or psychologist. Morris suggested
that penalties be imposed on people who lie on the questionnaire. But he is
not optimistic about an easy solution. "Some people say a compromise is
where everyone leaves unhappy with the solution," Morris said. "That may be
what happens here. 

Source:

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20180603/2819388386013