The issue of "emotional support animals" has been on a very rocky wave over the last five years. In 2019, several airlines tried loosening their rules to allow travelers to bring certain pets such as cats, rabbits and smaller dogs with them into the cabin.
While intended as a way to make travelers happy and allow them to not part with beloved pets that can stay well-behaved, the liberal policy led to a number of problems and in-air incidents that pushed both the U.S. Department of Transportation to crack down and push airlines to bring back stricter restrictions for all but official service animals.
Related: Loose otters and a marmoset caused some serious chaos aboard a flight
The general rule at the "big three" airlines such as United Airlines (UAL) , Delta Air (DAL) and American Airlines (AAL) is that any pet brought within the cabin needs to meet the size requirement of 18 x 11 x 11 inches and is subject to an additional fee.
There’s no way that’s a real service dog.
by u/Certain_Monitor8688 in unitedairlines
United Airlines passenger: 'Stop faking service dogs to fly'
Official service animals commonly used by people who are visually impaired or prone to seizures are not subject to any such limitations — a situation that may be pushing some travelers to flout the rules by disguising a regular pet as the latter.
"There's no way that’s a real service dog," one traveler wrote in the caption to a viral video of a very large Golden Retriever standing up on its hind legs to cuddle with the traveler while wearing a black-and-red "service dog" vest. The video, which was posted in the United Airlines forum on the social media platform Reddit (RDDT) , received more than 1,700 likes and over 400 comments.
"This is a fake service dog vs. my real service dog," the traveler wrote overtop the footage as the video spans to a smaller dog that sits quietly at the passenger's feet. The "service dog" vest also has certain observable differences from what is on the other dog — this, in turn, pushed the person behind the post to admonish those who are "faking service dogs to fly."
Commenters echoed the suspicion that the service dog may not be a real one — any designated service dog is strictly trained not to stand on hind legs or approach other travelers.
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'Until that changes, you'll have to put up with these people'
"Lol, 'service dog' climbing on people," reads one of the most upvoted comments.
"The dog looks nervous, maybe that's its emotional support human," wrote another commenter.
Others pointed out that lobbying groups for people with disabilities have pushed against requiring to "prove" that one's dog is a service animal while the American With Disabilities Act states that companies generally do not have the right to "insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability" — a law designed to protect people with disabilities from having to argue into accommodation but can also lead to dishonest people looking to take advantage.
"Until that changes, and strict punishments are imposed for gaining special privilege by impersonation, you'll have to put up with these people," wrote one commenter using the u/FishingIcy4315 username.
