There’s been plenty of stuff in the news in recent years about emotional support animals. Following the footsteps of service animals, which are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for their person with disabilities, emotional support animals are companion animals that a medical professional says provides some benefit for a person disabled by a mental health condition or emotional disorder. Unfortunately nowadays, they are sometimes pets whose owners bought them a special collar, vest, leash. etc. on the internet that makes them look like an emotional support animal, but is really just a way to allow their entry into hotels, restaurants, planes, theme parks and other places where pets are usually not allowed.
Animals being posed as emotional support animals have run the gamut of pets, from dogs to cats to rats to monkeys to mice to rabbits to miniature pigs to snakes to goldfish to hedgehogs to peacocks to squirrels to alligators and more. True emotional support animals have run nearly that same gamut, which makes the line between the two (and unfortunately, the line between those and trained service animals, which are in a category unto themselves, complete with laws in their favor) fuzzy.
I always feel bad for anyone subjected to fake emotional support animals on a plane. Be they the animal that poop on a plane seat or that attacks fellow passengers, there are just way too many problems with these animals that are untrained by owners who just don’t care, all in the name of selfish travelers.
I mean, just look at what the passengers of this plane were going to potentially deal with…
Have a good weekend, travel friends! 😉
*** Thanks to Chris Salata of Behind The Ears Podcast for the heads up about this topic
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
