Sometimes the problem with “service animals” onboard is not that they are real or fake, but that they make a mess that a baby wearing a diaper never would.
“Service Dog” Poops Repeatedly On United Airlines Flight As Crew Scrambles With Coffee Grounds
A FlyerTalk post describes a messy incident on a recent United Airlines flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to San Francisco (SFO) involving a dog that was presented as a service animal…at least initially.
The passenger seated across the aisle from the dog noted that it was wearing a guide dog harness during boarding and was calm and well-behaved. No barking, no wandering, no issues….for the first hour.
But then things changed.
Four Incidents, Coffee Grounds, And A Cabin That Smelled Like…Coffee And Something Else
About an hour into the flight, as the beverage cart moved through the cabin, the dog began defecating in the aisle area around row 7.
Flight attendants quickly moved into damage-control mode:
- Paper towels
- Alcohol wipes
- Plastic bags
- Bags of coffee grounds dumped onto the carpet to try to mask the smell
The owners picked up some of it…but only the larger portions, leaving residue behind on the carpet.
Then it happened again.
And again.
And again.
By the time the aircraft landed in San Francisco, the carpet around row 7 had reportedly turned a “rich brown” from the combination of repeated incidents and coffee grounds layered on top.
One passenger in row 7 was moved to an exit row seat, the only open seat on the aircraft. Others simply endured it.
The owners? They deplaned as if nothing had happened, leaving behind bags of soiled paper towels and a mess for the cleaning crew (who, remarkably, were not even warned before boarding the aircraft). One passenger explained:
I got off the plane as fast as I could because the smell was awful and told the cleaning staff waiting outside the door that there was poop in row 7 and that she should tell her manager that it was really unsanitary.
The Harness Raises Questions
As you can see in the picture above, the dog was wearing what appeared to be a guide dog harness (like this). That matters, because those harnesses are specifically designed for visually impaired passengers and allow the dog to actively guide its handler.
But after boarding, the harness was removed and stowed in the seatback pocket. It was not used during the flight. It was not worn in the jet bridge after landing. And the passenger with the dog was reportedly watching TV during the flight.
That does not prove anything, but is an interesting data point.
Not all disabilities are visible, and not all service dogs are guide dogs. But when a dog is wearing equipment associated with one very specific type of disability and then that equipment is quickly removed and never used, it naturally raises questions.
We Don’t Know If This Was A Legitimate Service Animal
We do not know whether this was a legitimate service animal or not.
But we do know a few things:
- Trained service dogs are typically extremely well-behaved
- They are trained to avoid relieving themselves in inappropriate places
- And they are generally removed from service if they cannot maintain that level of discipline
Four separate incidents on a single flight is…not typical for even poorly-behaved fake service animals. That leads me to believe, whether this dog was a real service dog or not, it got sick on the flight. Sorry for the graphic visual above, but it does not look like normal dog feces to me. I feel very sorry for the pooch…
Even if this was a legitimate service animal having a very bad day, the broader issue remains.
Airlines are placed in a difficult position. They are limited in what they can ask and how they can verify service animals and the system relies heavily on trust.
Over time, that trust has been strained…over and over again. Incidents like this, whether legitimate or not, reinforce the perception that the rules are being stretched…or ignored altogether. That is not fair to passengers. But more importantly, it is not fair to those who genuinely rely on trained service animals.
While this could have been a bonafide service dog having a real bad day, I am little suspicious considering how the handle specifically intended for guide dogs assisting the blind was removed.
CONCLUSION
Maybe this was a legitimate service animal that simply had an unfortunate series of incidents.
But when a dog boards with a guide harness, removes it shortly thereafter, and then relieves itself multiple times in the cabin while the owners only partially clean up the mess, it becomes very difficult not to ask questions.
A baby may also not be able to control when it defecates, but at least a baby poops in a diaper. Maybe “service” animals on airplanes should also require a diaper?
image: @Wyfind / FlyerTalk (used with permission)
VFTW is usually the blog that focuses on dog poop. This was a good one though!
We serve to serve again!
Bahahaha!! (Good boy!)
This nonsense needs to stop. NOW. PERIOD. I am betting that 80% of these “service dogs” are fake. Before this entire trend of getting fake credentials I might see a dog on a plane a couple of times a year. And it was clear that the person was in need of a service dog. Now? A couple of times a week and the person is clearly just fine. Please, don’t start with “emotional support.” If you need a dog to be able to handle emotions on a plane you should consider another means of transportation.
UA has been more generous with travel credits than others, so I wouldn’t be surprised they issued some compensation for those affected pax, although it wasn’t completely UA’s fault. The comps I’ve received from them in the past were all due to their fault equipments, though.
With extra cleaning costs, UA should turn around send a bill to this owner. If the owner refuses to pay, the send it to the collection and ban the owner. This kind of guarantee should’ve been placed.
Troubling the owner neglected to ask for a garbage bag barrier to place under their ” pet ?” after the first incident. It should never be a FA duty to instruct the owner in pet health issues. Shameful.
The problem is federal law. If you can’t hear and need a hearing aid, often you have to pay. Same with glasses. The same should be for animals, service dog or not.
Blame shitty owners, blame airlines for allowing it, blame Amazon for selling fake Service Animal vests and tags, blame the lack of common decency in society but don’t blame the dog. He or she didn’t want to be in that situation and couldn’t control themselves.
Some people don’t deserve pets. And please, please never buy from dog breeders and support your local spay & neuter operations.
Thank you Bob Barker. 😉
Yes dogs should wear diapers
For example in the Philippines dogs are allowed in malls but they need to wear diapers. So diapers for dogs is a thing
This is why when I travel, I like to wear a Tom Brady jersey. Because by my wearing that, it clearly and honestly signals that I have won 7 Super Bowls.
I hope the owners are being banned from flights in the future…
Responsible owners know to avoid feeding dogs within 18 hrs of a flight and using the comfort stations before boarding.
Like people, animals are well equipped to fast for long periods if time and airlines should demand that owners sign affidavits of such prior to boarding.
On a related note: CARRIERS need to inform passengers with allergies to CATS that they have those on board and flyers can decide to stay or rebook. Nothing like anaphylaxis at 20k feet on a FIVE hour flight..
Crack down on the fake service animals. Be ruthless. Ban owners from future flights if the dog misbehaves.
Real service animal or not, the owner should be responsible for the additional cleaning fee. Federal rules allow for the use of service animals but they don’t guarantee the right for them to destroy/ruin property free of charge. It’s not like UA doesn’t know who that person is.
Disgusting. And if UA allowed the dog’s owners to exit without paying for cleanup costs, shame on them.
Passengers should be upgraded & awarded miles–many of them.
Am happy NOT flying for over a year, although I miss the escapes.
In my view of heaven, St. Peter would look over the owners record, note that things looked pretty good. Then, he’d say “but that fake service dog incident.” He’d then do a Burns-like trap door opening. Straight to hell.
What I want to know – how did they clean it up after the flight? I hope they pulled those carpet sections off the plane. But I’m gonna bet that the cleaning crew just wiped it a bit and then left it for some poor person on the next flight. This is a good reminder that if you take your shoes off on a plane, be prepared to wash your socks after the flight!
One would hope they have a portable carpet cleaner. You know, a handheld version of the kind you can rent.
Agreed John. Just dispose of those airline socks!
So these whiners think we live in a perfect world where everything goes smooth all the time…. Especially around these whiners….. Get a life…..sh$t happens, even to dogs. There is no law that says a service animal MUST be perfectly trained…… Trained. Yes. But not perfectly. You see a service dog…… Understand it probably isn’t perfect……. Just like YOU !!! But I’m sure you think you are perfect.
I don’t think it’s whining to suggest that, if this was a fake service dog, that the pax had a gross experience they would not have had if the owner complied with the rules. If this was a service dog (very unlikely) is it unreasonable to expect that it receive the training (or be screened out) to hold it in? Of course, it is always possible this could have happened to a properly screened and trained service dog. And, in a society, we live with that. But, if the bottom line is pax suffered for a rule breaker, then shame on the owner, and shame on you for eefending him.
Anyone can order a “blind service dog” harness including the handle from Amazon. I can say from personal experience that people are buying these to cheat the system and to get special treatment, because they know they cannot be asked to prove their dog is a service dog. This needs to change.
As someone who has a service dog, The talk about the harness handle being taken off the animal during the flight was actually for the comfort of the animal. I use a handle with my dog when I’m going through crowded areas. Handles are not only for those with visual impairments. Those harnesses with handles for people that are visually impaired or actually much beefier than the ones that most of us that have handles use. And yes, they are absolutely needed for that dog to guide a blind or visually impaired person around. Handles are used for various reasons. And my dog does not have the handle on all the time. But in crowded areas? Yep. It helps both of us.
I typically leave my dog’s handle on when I’m traveling but it depends on where we’re seated. If she has to curl in tighter, it’s more comfortable for her without it.
No, on the issue of the dog having diarrhea. It is a nightmare for all of us with service dogs. The owner should have had a waterproof pad underneath her dog. I travel with a dog blanket that is washable and waterproof. I put it on the floor so that my dog has a comfortable spot that is not cold. The floor is actually get quite cold on flights. And because it’s waterproof, it can contain any mess that might happen. Thankfully, nothing like that has ever happened to us. Dogs get nervous sometimes. And yeah, it happens to humans too. I’ve been on flights where a human had an accident in their seat. The owner should have also brought a trash bag and wipes, and gloves. And cleaned everything up themselves unless the flight attendants told them not to. This is a responsibility of any dog owner. To just leave the plane without doing anything else, unless they were told to (which may have happened), is irresponsible.
Appreciate your comment!
Thank you for posting your thoughts, as the only person in this thread with actual experience with this topic and knowledge of how things should have gone. I had no idea that there were varying levels of long-handled harnesses used for service animals.
Out of curiosity, how do you feel about whether someone using a service animal should need to be able to provide documentation about the legitimacy of the animal’s training/prescription from a doctor? I believe it should be incredibly limited as to who could ask to view that documentation, but it would presumably help to curtail the rampant abuse of the trust-based system in place now. I’m genuinely interested in your thoughts as someone who would be impacted by a change like this.
In 2020 Seattle councilwoman Kshama Sawant, rather than express the collective opinion of those who voted her into office, became a rabid mouthpiece for defunding the police. Her constituents (& others) took to tossing their dog poop into her front yard.
Sawant called 911 about these ‘tossers’, despite them not being a life threatening incidents Because, you know, her wish is everybody else’s command, right? She was unhappy w/the time it took for the operator to answer the calls, & unhappier still how long it took officers to arrive at her home after she called. Maybe she could have been a service councilwoman for needy fliers, eh?
If you’re still w/me, my point being that Sawant experienced payback for her actions. We wonder what will happen to the owner of this soi-disant ‘service’ animal.