From the text of the Air Carrier Access Act [1] > You are never required to accommodate certain unusual service animals (e.g., snakes, other reptiles, ferrets,

From the text of the Air Carrier Access Act [1] > You are never required to accommodate certain unusual service animals (e.g., snakes, other reptiles, ferrets, rodents, and spiders) as service animals in the cabin. With respect to all other animals, including unusual or exotic animals that are presented as service animals (e.g., miniature horses, pigs, monkeys), as a carrier you must determine whether any factors preclude their traveling in the cabin as service animals (e.g., whether the animal is too large or heavy to be accommodated in the cabin, whether the animal would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others, whether it would cause a significant disruption of cabin service, whether it would be prohibited from entering a foreign country that is the flight's destination). If no such factors preclude the animal from traveling in the cabin, you must permit it to do so. However, as a foreign carrier, you are not required to carry service animals other than dogs. Is anyone else annoyed that airlines are required [2] to allow people to take an untrained emotional support pig on a flight unless they can show a specific reason why it shouldn't be allowed on (and the burden of proof seems to be on the airline)? Obviously, the way this law is written, it makes it a big hassle for the airlines to deny travel to these animals, especially if the person comes with documentation from a mental health professional (who they can find online to give them a letter for $99). In the case of a highly trained service animal (think seeing eye dog or a dog trained to detect imminent seizures) I can understand why we allow them on. Those dogs are incredibly well trained. As I understand it, very few dogs have the demeanor to pass the training. If you've got an animal travelling with you for emotional support reasons, we should have a similar requirement for training. If your animal isn't trained (and certified by a reputable organization) to behave around other people, why should an airline be forced to accommodate you bringing your animal into a confined and crowded space? Our laws should force people claiming emotional support animals to have them be trained and certified to behave well in a public space (service animals, from what I've seen, already meet this standard) if airlines are going to be forced to let them fly for free. [1] https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/specialneeds/disabilities/ACAA-Final-Rule.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/specialneeds... [2] As far as I know, there's nothing preventing an airline from allowing animals to fly for free, similar to how many hotels are pet friendly. Someone could open an airline that's pet friendly and I'm sure there's a niche market for it. But in my mind, unless there's a very compelling reason, we shouldn't force airlines to allow animals on board for free. In my mind, highly trained service animals have a compelling enough reason to force airlines to allow them on board. Untrained emotional support animals don't.