Dogs on planes

Doshwaster

uknick wrote: »

Sorry for a long rant, but this is a big issue for us when we travel, both for flights and hotels. My other half is allergic to cats and dogs; they trigger her asthma by just being in the same area as her.

My pet allergy isn't quite that bad - I'm OK-ish with cats but I sneeze and my eyes start watering the moment I enter a house with a dog so there is no way that I would want to be anywhere need a pooch - no matter how well behaved - on a flight.

Same with hotels. I could tell immediately if a room had previously had a dog in it and there are times when I have asked to change rooms because of it.

System

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I can think of at least two things that could be worse.

Groups of drunks going off for a hen/stag party or football match,
&
obnoxious and loud 7/8/9 year olds running up and down the aisles screaming and shouting and knocking into everyone in an aisle seat.

You forgotten babies and toddlers screaming their heads off when their ears have 'popped' as they are too young to be aware/understand what is going on.
.

Laz123

sidefx wrote: »

So having a dog at your feet, and the person sat next to you being unable to exit the plane in an emergency due to 'a dog in the way' and duly burning to death or similar, is a good idea?

It makes a mockery of restrictions on hand luggage.

At least that goes in an overhead locker.

Yus, and how could they understand the safety procedures and how to put an oxygen mask on their snouts and how to put on the life jacket.

shaun_from_Africa

ScarletMarble wrote: »

You forgotten babies and toddlers screaming their heads off when their ears have 'popped' as they are too young to be aware/understand what is going on.

To be honest, the only time that annoys me is when they are seated right next to me and I'm trying to sleep. Apart from this time, I normally have a pair of noise cancelling headphones on whilst watching a film.


I can understand babies and toddlers screaming as that's what they do and it's not a sign of bad behaviour or bad parenting.
Any child above about 5 years old screaming, shouting and generally being a pain in the ar5e however is a different matter.

[Deleted User]

uknick wrote: »

Sorry for a long rant, but this is a big issue for us when we travel, both for flights and hotels. My other half is allergic to cats and dogs; they trigger her asthma by just being in the same area as her.

We only fly airlines that let us change our non flexible tickets at no cost if an animal is booked on the flight after we book.

We asked BA about this and they told us the dog always takes preference over the asthma sufferer. So, if a dog was booked on after us, we'd have to pay the normal change of flights costs. As you can imagine, BA does not get our business.

Whilst UK departing/arriving flights tend to only allow "genuine" service dogs, in the USA they allow all sorts of dogs on the internal flights. This has led to the fraud dog issue; owners register their dog as a service animal, or more usually emotional support dog, to avoid the fees airlines charge for normal pets to fly in the cabin.

Unfortunately this "fraud" dog issue has now spread to hotels. To avoid dogs we pay a premium to book hotels that only allow service animals. All have to allow service animals under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). However, this act specifically states emotional support dogs are excluded from this part of the ADA.

But, owners now register their dog as a service animal on the internet, pay about $200 for a pack which gives them a letter which says it is a service animal and book into hotels using this paperwork. Why do they do this? It saves them about $50 a stay, so the $200 is recovered pretty quickly.

Over the last couple of years we've experienced non service dogs in about half the hotels we've stayed in. When we ask the hotel why they've let a pet say, they try to quote the ADA which says they can only ask if it is a service dog. If the owner says it is, the hotel can't do anything about it. The hotels are all wrong when they tell us this.

The ADA allows the hotel to ask two questions; first is it a service dog and second what is it trained to do? What they can't ask is what the owner's disability is. By not asking the second question the hotel is in breach of their hotel's pet policy if there is some doubt as to the validity of the owners claim.

As an example, last week we were staying in Cape Cod. A late middle age couple from New York checked in with a lapdog wearing a yellow tutu. During the time we were there we saw the couple a few times without the dog. To my mind this was a pet so we questioned it with the hotel. They said the owners had service dog paperwork for it, so the hotel had not bothered to ask what it was trained to do. The fact we saw the owners without the dog undermines the claim it was a service dog, which under the rules should be with the owner at all times.

Mind you, this couple also had a disabled badge for their car despite them both showing no sign of a mobility issue. I saw this when they both took the luggage from their car and carried it into reception without asking for assistance. No doubt they had obtained it under the mental incapacity clause allowed under US rules. And before you think I was stalking them, I just happened to be sat in the reception area having a coffee when they arrived.

Later on in the week another dog arrived, again a small lapdog. This one wore a jacket with "support animal" on it. Because it had the jacket on the hotel let it stay.

What can we do about this? Not a lot as the dog lobby in the USA is very strong. Complaining to the hotels achieves nothing. In the future we're going to book short stays at hotels; a coupe of nights and then change hotel to another in the area. Hopefully, this'll reduce the stress my other half feels when she knows a pet is in the hotel. Not very convenient, but as the hotels have no intention of enforcing the ADA I can't see any other option.

The irony of all this is that I love dogs, as a child we had them as pets, and would love to have one again. But, my partner's allergic issues negates this.

And, before any on here tell me service animals are trained in many diverse functions, I'm aware of this. In the USA I've seen dogs trained to detect an impending insulin coma, to help when the owner has a seizure as well as the usual guide dog. It is obvious these are genuine service dogs by their behaviour. They're always with their owner and take an interest in nothing but than their owner. It's the fraud dogs I have the issue with, as do many of the genuine service dog owners.

Just change your OH, all that sounds tiresome. Take an antihystamine.

leylandsunaddict

Animals, apart from service animals, are not allowed in the cabin on any flights arriving or departing the UK. It's quite common in other parts of Europe and in the US. Airlines cannot deny service animals and unless you buy very expensive fully refundable tickets there's nothing you can do about having them on your flight.

uknick

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

Animals, apart from service animals, are not allowed in the cabin on any flights arriving or departing the UK. It's quite common in other parts of Europe and in the US. Airlines cannot deny service animals and unless you buy very expensive fully refundable tickets there's nothing you can do about having them on your flight.

One thing you can do, as we do, is to fly airlines that allow you to change non flexible tickets to another flight with the airline, just paying for any additional air fare, e.g. if the price has gone up since originally booked. Virgin and Air Canada both say they'll allow this.

But, it is a bit of a palaver.

Before booking I have to contact the airline's team that deals with booking dogs on flights, check no dog is booked, book flights and then just before we fly check no dogs are still on the plane. On the way back I check again a couple days before flying. Luckily, so far we've not had dogs booked after us.

[Deleted User]

martindow wrote: »

I can't think of much worse than loose dogs in planes.

Indeed. If your dog's loose it'll take more than just a polythene bag over your hand.

bigadaj

jack_pott wrote: »

Indeed. If your dog's loose it'll take more than just a polythene bag over your hand.

Polythene bag over the dog?

eDicky

I haven't checked, but you might find that middle eastern and other airlines used substantially by Muslims do not allow dogs, which are considered unclean in Islam.

Dutch people often say they have a dog with them when ordering a taxi, in order to avoid having a Muslim driver.