There are many ways to spot a fake service dog, but one particularly stands out: when the animal does not behave. That was the giveaway that that very cute little dog on my transcontinental flight was not really a service dog, but just a pathetic attempt by the owner to skirt the pet cabin fee. It’s just too easy to fake it…
That’s No Service Dog: The Scam That Ran Down The Concourse At JFK
A couple was standing at the gate area waiting to board. They had two dogs. One was being held by the woman while the other was in a bag beside her, as pictured above.
At one point, she took the second dog out of the bag. It proceeded to try to run away… scampering down the concourse for several seconds before the couple realized it had gotten away. The man sheepishly ran over to it. When it saw him coming, the dog continued to run… though it was finally caught and brought back.
Look closely and you’ll see that the second dog was not in a pet carrier…it was a purse. Thus, it is not an assumption that these folks claimed they were traveling with “service animals” because otherwise the dogs would have had to be contained in a bag.
I’m not going to provide date and flight number here because this sort of problem is hardly unique to one airline or route, but I will say that it is certainly highlighted in my own hometown, Los Angeles. Folks from LaLa land love to flaunt their little dogs and cannot be bothered to play by the rules and keep them in pet carriers.
I realize that we might collectively have bigger fish to fry right now as the government shutdown enters it second month, but this issue continues to grate me…I wish airlines were not so impotent to say, “Sorry, this is your pet and it will not travel in the cabin today.”
Yes, yes…there is still room for an enterprising carrier to cash in on Americans’ love for their four-legged friends and make it easier to carry dogs (and cats) onboard…I’d be happy to see that (and at the same time, avoid that carrier).
But it’s the lying that gets to me…and that airlines literally have no recourse unless the dog attacks someone. Heck, the dog can even leave droppings in the aisle and the flight attendants seem to shrug…
> Read More: Unleashed Dog Rambles Down Aisle On American Airlines Flight, Of Course Has An Accident…
So I say, shame on these people…when you game the system, those who really need service animals are put at risk.
CONCLUSION
I once had a “friend” who broke every rule with a “screw you” attitude, positing he was “above” any rules or regulations (from lines to littering to service dogs) and expressing disdain for following rules. I have disdain for that behavior because if everyone did likewise, society would break down. People like that are a threat to order and stability and a big threat to those who are genuinely in need of service animals.
Until the rules change concerning airlines, all I can do is continue to highlight anecdotes–like the story above–and try to call out poor behavior in hopes that it might deter at least some from copying the unethical behavior.
My usual seat on most flights (at least the ones operated on single aisle 737 family and A320 family planes) is 1E, and I see these folks with their fake service dogs on nearly every flight I take out of LAX (and so far this year, I’ve racked up over 80 flight segments, so it is pretty often!) I have now taken to verbally shaming these people as they board when it is obvious that Fluffy or Rover is a vanity pet and not a true service animal.
It usually takes the form of me looking at the person with disdain, shaking my head, and saying “SHAME ON YOU.” I obviously keep it simple to avoid doing something that could get me removed from the flight. Only once has it evolved into a confrontation wherein the husband got mouthy with me, and I told the couple that they were despicable and were doing a great disservice to folks who legitimately needed the assistance of a service dog. Of course, since the dog was clearly not a service dog (and the rambunctious behavior was the giveaway), they couldn’t tell me that it really was a service dog. Instead, I got a “f**K you, who appointed you as federal airline police.” In this instance, I did respond with my best 4th generation NYer vernacular!
I think that more of us need to be shaming these thieves. Not only are they stealing revenue from the airline (which hurts all of us in the long run, because the airlines have to make a certain level of profit from their ancillary fees, otherwise their need for that level of profit will be reflected in higher fares), but they are creating an unnecessary opprobrium towards folks with legit service animals, as we all now doubt that a service animal really is a service animal unless it is just too obvious to ignore (like the traditional blind person with a cane being led by an adorable and well-behaved German Shepherd with a proper vest who rests at the person’s feet when not moving).
LOL Neal Z whinge harder. Dogs are great and people like you who spend that much time whinging about them are hilarious
There’s no need to overcompensate like this for having a small penis, Neal
Kirby currently on Fox at the White House with the Teamsters Union boss, Duffy and Vance all encouraging Schumer to end HIS shutdown. I’m partisan but I just can’t see a way the Dems come out of this as winners.
Note CNN and MSNBC aren’t covering it because they know real people are hurting because Schumer is afraid of a horse faced bartender.
What?
I mean, look at the way she’s dressed. Why not just wear a sandwich board that says SKANK in block capitals? And he looks like he’s just climbed out of bed. They’re untidy.
I can fix her! 😀
I agree; stogieguy7 can ‘fix’ her…
She’s all his O_o
Those untidy peasants, how uncouth!
Ahh, dogs in an airport!
(Btw, ground stop at NYC-area airports with all the weather today. Be safe, everyone!)
Earlier this year I saw a “service dog” actively pooping right in the middle of the LAX T5 concourse pathway. You’d imagine these are fictional exaggerations but yet it really happens.
This is an important issue and you really outta make a federal case out of it
This is on every flight now.. LAst week a couple had 2 very large poodles-they sat in the eat and took it up while the owners made them beds,, I think they were show dogs…..but way bigger than I have seen on planes lately. DL wa ok with it .
I shake my head now and utter under my breath that its not a service animal…..
Who cares? How about you mind your own business?
Seems easy enough: Require a certification by a licensed veterinarian that they stake that license that the dog really is a service dog.
Yes.
No
REQUIRE proof pet liability insurance. just in case of an accident, harm to others, diversion, etc.
Dumb idea. We’ll do it when you have to carry human liability insurance in case you have an accident on the plane, do harm to others or cause a diversion, etc
I am particularly interested in the mind your own business response as this has popped up on sites concerning breaking traffic laws and discussions of sanitary standards in grocery stores. It seems to be too common that for too many individuals behavior that impacts other people isn’t important as long as they do whatever they please. The ME generation. Yet there is purpose for these rules and regulations. Safety, hygiene, comfort, costs. In this case Many owners and trainers of legitimate service animals have complained that abuse of a well intended law has become a problem for them. There is here I believe a similarity to the abuse of wheelchair/ disable boarding rules on open seating Southwest flights. Ultimately the inability to have reasonable rules was afactor in abandoning their seating practices.
This dog isn’t really a problem in this setting. The dog is at best a temporary distraction, and has minimal to zero impact on safety, hygiene, comfort or costs. Meanwhile, infants can scream for an entire flight. I’m fine with both being in the airport and on the plane, I just mind my own business and get on with my life. Clearly these safety/hygiene/etc arguments are mere pretense for people just not liking dogs or something else and trying to make a federal case out of it
“I’m not going to provide date and flight number here because this sort of problem is hardly unique to one airline or route,”
Definitely JetBlue T5 at JFK guessing it’s a transcon back to LAX.
The same people who consider this to be a “problem” are the same people who call in a report people for using high occupancy lanes on the highway when they suspect they don’t have enough people in the vehicle. In other words, people who are FUN at parties