I was recently on a flight with a dog that appeared to use the mid-cabin lavatory for mid-flight relief. Is that appropriate?
Is It Appropriate For A Dog To Use Lavatory On Commercial Airplane Flight?
Midway though a four-hour flight, the woman across the aisle from me got up carrying her dog, with a “service” vest on it (“emotional support” dogs are now more closely regulated, but so-called “psychiatric service animals” can still fly for free and represent a huge loophole).
Three things suggested to me that the dog was not really a service dog. First, the passenger was speaking to the dog in baby talk, telling him that it was “potty time.” Thus, it seemed clear to me that this was not the way a trained service dog would be spoken to nor was it just the woman who was taking the dog with her while she used the restroom. Second, isn’t it true that service dogs are specifically trained to “hold it” for long periods of time, so a true service animal should not have needed to use the lavatory? I will add that as far as I could see, she was not carrying a mat or other absorbent pad. Third, are service animals carried like a baby? I thought they were trained to walk beside their people.
About five minutes later the two emerged from the lavatory. No, I did not go up and inspect its cleanliness.
I will add that the dog was very cute (reminded me of Ben and Ford’s dog, Winston), but I do wonder whether it is appropriate for a dog to use a passenger lavatory for mid-flight relief, assuming (for argument’s sake) that is what the dog did.
Certainly, going on a pad or directly in the toilet is far better than going on the floor or in a doggy diaper. But I tend to think that if a dog cannot hold it for a domestic flight, it probably should not be flying in the passenger cabin.
CONCLUSION
A dog appeared to use the passenger lavatory on a recent flight to take care of business in the middle of the flight. Is this appropriate if properly cleaned up? For me, I always come back to the point that somehow in Europe and Asia and the rest of the world we rarely see dogs on planes…only in the USA.
> Read More: There’s A New Loophole To Allow Emotional Support Animals On Planes…
Most of these women that treat their dogs like children do so because they don’t have children and use their pets as a way to satisfty their maternal instinct.
All the while well into their 40s and until their eventual suicide they tell us how “happy” they are.
Most of the women are lefty/democrat types so them not reproducing is a net benefit to society.
My god! I think YOU need a psychiatric service, animal!
You spend the whole day writing MAGA propaganda in different blogs.
Look for some support, my friend.
since when is the truth “maga propaganda” ?
So, what is the alternative: piss on the cabin floor? You choose.
The way humans are “humanizing” dogs nowadays just seems incredible to me: birthday parties, play dates, gifts and cakes, designer brand accessories, it all just seems too much; dogs are dogs, as amazing as they are, but they are still dogs.
So much to write on this highly sensitivie topic…
Wow you must be extremely lucky or coddled to have never suffered any losses that would force you to feel and express sympathy and compassion rather than judgment and ugliness. You’re right about one thing- I do want to kill myself and posts like yours make me wish I get the courage soon.
Preparing my popcorn!!! LOL!!!
It’s not Winston because he always uses a diaper when flying.
I’ll bite. First off you’re making an assumption here. You don’t know if the dog used the lav, but the context of your post implies that you think he did, so most of your readers will agree and treat the dog urinating on the floor of the lav as a foregone conclusion. You could have walked up and checked, but you didn’t. You’re implying they did, so presumably any dog on a plane must be a “precious little angel puppy,” and no real disabled person should ever treat their animal like, I don’t know… a member of their family?
You don’t like Psychiatric service animals. That’s fine. You don’t have to, and I suspect you didn’t know they even existed until ESAs went away, and bloggers sold them as a loophole. I guess it’s ripe for exploitation, Fair enough, but wait until someone you care about has a disability that isn’t visible. Admittedly, at one point in my life, my viewpoint changed.
And to a point you’ve made before, they do exist in Europe and Latin America, and Asia, but like a law degree, international animal reciprocity isn’t always much of a thing which can make it difficult. I have spent countless hours on the phone this week sorting this exact issue out with Finnair. Just ask any European with an animal that moves to London. It’s a challenge.
I generally see eye to eye with you on most everything you post, but man, you miss the boat on service animals… and Hyatts in Bangkok. Regency > Grand
If you really need a psychiatric service animal you should not be confined in a metal tub at 30,000 ft.
I’d argue that it’s inconsiderate assholes like you who shouldn’t be permitted. But I suppose that would pretty much kill domestic air travel in the US.
You should fly Zoo Air. It fits you and your psychiatric service animal.
Agreed!
ESAs…. formerly known as pets.
Agree that Matt’s making a lot of unwarranted assumptions about both the dog and owner here, none of which were really pertinent to the question of whether dogs should use the lavatory. In particular, it makes no sense to judge whether the dog is a “legitimate” service animal based on how the owner treats it. It’s not as if people with service dogs are banned from showing the animal affection like a normal pet.
At the end of the day, there are many types of service dogs for people with many different types of medical needs or disabilities–not all of which are readily apparent to the casual observer.
I’d rather it go in the bathroom than on the cabin floor. Pets just need to be banned in cabins and airlines need to find a better, cheaper, and safer (although I think it’s been awhile since we’ve heard of any accidents) way to transport pets.
On a side note, what happens when pets that are properly transported have to go? Do they just sit in their create in their own mess?
You can get pet pee pads to put in the crate that are thin, lightweight, and won’t shift. Kinda like those thin sponges that you add water to and voila! a sponge appears! We put one in the extra large dog crate when we transported our two cats from ORD-ARN and while the cats held it for the whole 20 hour trip (including the driving to and from airports), someone had a little piddle moment but the pad kept it dry as a bone and smell free.
The trick is to get the right size (or larger) pet carrier and pee pads to tape to the bottom so they won’t scratch it up.
If the dog is toilet trained, no issue with it using the lav
The simplest way to cut down on dogs flying is require them to purchase a full fare Y/O/J/F seat, depending upon the cabin they are flying in. The riff raff dogs won’t be flying if they must pay full fare
My daughter, who is highly allergic to dogs recently flew next to a lady with a large dog at her feet. After a 3 hour flight, my daughter started wheezing and her eyes were swollen shut. They were not able to switch seats because the plane was full and everyone else refused to sit next to the very large support dog. How about her health and rights?
I feel for your daughter, this must have been terrible, and is not right. If the rules were sensible a legitimate service dog (with papers to prove it) over a certain weight would have to have it’s own seat (protected, then deep cleaned for the passenger in it on the next flight). Then atleast your daughter or others with similar issues could be 1 person away from the animal. Real pity the plane was full…….
I’m one of those people who flies and travels with her dog! I highly recommend pet owners fly JSX (jetsuitex) they are very pet friendly!!! Good pets owners know which hotels/airlines are pet friendly and who you should avoid.
I’ll bite (pardon the pun). There is little way to know in advance if any mammal, human or 4 legged, is going to need to relieve itself in advance of a flight. After all, the air in a plane can dehydrate someone making abstaining from water to avoid peeing unhealthy.
I did a quick google and while service animals are trained to not randomly relieve themselves, they, like humans, may feel significant discomfort if restrained from the call of nature for too long. They are trained to just be polite as to where they relieve themselves, not to never relieve themselves at all (wouldn’t that be great if it worked on humans! 🙂
So the question then becomes whether animals should be restricted from the main cabin. I don’t think that’s a legal option for service animals for the blind. Many airlines will offer the option to allow small animals to be carried into the cabin provided they fit into a carrier under the seat.
So in that regard, ergo, the question is whether you’d want the animal to take a dump in their carrier and possibly stink up the cabin or to have them use a pad in the restroom. I don’t think that’s any more significant than, and I know this sounds disgusting, some folks who pee standing up and miss (you know who you are!) and leave the bathroom floor covered with HUMAN waste.
Who goes to the bathroom on a plane in socks or barefoot?
This begs the question as to whether airlines/plane outfitters could do a better job with lavatory design such as raised floors so that the mess goes under and drained rather than forms a puddle, an air dryer to dry the surfaces, and (silent) ventilation to suck out the smells.
My opinion (for what it’s worth): Be happy the owner got the animal taken care of.
If AOC is allowed to use the bathroom as a Horse Faced Jackass, a dog should be as well.
Non story here.
Relax. you made this non-political post, political.
Rent-free in your head.
Exactly. Even funnier that the triggered snowflake in this case is the one who’s usually screeching about triggered snowflakes. The Lady Dave Edwards doth protest too much, methinks.
Lefties really hate being called out as the children the behave like.
That’s why we call you snowflakes.
U.S. Is so f’d up. Of course only in the u.s. And they wonder why so many diseases.
Jeez the Russian trolls are strongly represented here in the comments…I am still amazed to how pervasive they have become. Their slang dictionary usage has really improved, although it’s still relatively clear to anyone who’s who.
One day I hope Russia is stopped in their social media manipulation program, or at least gets cut down in the sheer quantity and widespread presence. But I think their tactics to sow dissent and discord via the *appearance* of supposedly ubiquitous intense partisan demagoguery using whatever mass communication infiltration techniques are here to stay in today’s connected world. 🙁
lol you goofballs have russia living rent free in your small mind.
I’m born and raised here in the USA, I just see that the usa is a dying nation.
America is the world greatest threat and disruptor. The 100000 dead iraqis and afghanis agree with me.
Unfortunately your 7th grade English teacher does not agree with you.
The way things are nowadays, I bet there are a good number of dogs that are cleaner/more hygienic than (some of) the passengers who are aboard.
The woman is likely used to being dishonest and cheating. In that regard, she is no better than Putin,
Women by nature are narcissists and manipulative.
The more relevant question is why do people not allow dogs to be on the menu?
Why pass laws restricting people from eating dogs? So much for hypocrites claiming about freedom of choice.
There are laws against eating dogs? Oh.
i wish my dog could be trained to poop and pee on command in a space the size of a filing drawer.
A lot of assumptions in the article. No confirmation the dog actually did it’s business in the pax toilet, but the creature needed relief, as we all do. More research and clarification needed before articles are published. On the subject of relief………if handled responsibly by the owner…….surely better carried out in the toilet area (which, let’s face it, are riddled with germs, even in First Class) rather than peeing, or worse, in the main cabin?
Personally, I’m not wholly in agreement with pets in planes…whatever “label” justifies their inclusion on the pax list.
As somebody has already commented……perhaps if a pax needs a ‘psychiatric support dog’ maybe sitting in a sealed tube eight miles high isn’t the best idea……but then I’m making assumptions, and that’s wrong. Mind you, at least it wasn’t a psychiatric support dog for the pilot……….
All animals should be banned from passenger aircraft with the only exception being properly vetted service dogs! It’s outrageous having animals in passenger cabins including the shameful incident cited in the article! Love your pets at home!
Those who demand having their dogs on board are like those who demand to smoke on board.
Their actions violate the rights of other humans.
There should be zero smoking and zero dogs on commercial flights. The same goes for hotels and restaurants.
Given the state of most lavs on planes I would say the dog peeing on the floor is pretty much the same as the 14 humans before.
My normal dogs that travel in a carrier and pay fees go 15 hours without relieving themselves. This is an example of unacceptable behavior.
If you think dogs in an airplane lavatory is unhygienic, then never, ever drink from a water fountain in a public park. Many people let their dogs lap & lick directly from the spigot that people use.
P.S. I’ve known cats that were trained to use a human toilet. I say that just as a point of interest. 😀
Humans have to use a bathroom during a flight. Why are you expecting another living creature that eats and drink not to have to relief themselves at some point. Service dogs are vaccinated, clean and well behaved. Sometimes they have better manners than some called humans. You should take a look at the restrooms at the end of the flight regularly. Yes, I would like to hold all humans accountable and responsible to clean after themselves after using the restrooms., not only the service animals owners. Take a look at the public restrooms everywhere you go and take note of the real world as it is.