4 ms·

The problem is that the alternative to bringing your pet in the cabin is terrible. In cargo they can be lost like luggage, temperature and pressure controls are

The problem is that the alternative to bringing your pet in the cabin is terrible. In cargo they can be lost like luggage, temperature and pressure controls are not as strictly maintained, the animal is subject to extreme noises and gyrations - it is a scary and traumatic experience. Pets are much closer to children than objects for most people - it is like putting your child down there. The reason for the abuse of the ESA system is that there are no alternatives provided. Your only options are to torture your pet, or abuse the system. There is no amount of money you can pay to avoid it - you can't book an entire row if you wanted. I think this issue needs to be addressed, and a process formally institutionalized to allow pets to travel with their humans. It is very rare for anyone to be bothered when a pet is on board - most of the time it brings other passengers joy - in the cases where there is a problem, easy arrangements are made that satisfy everyone.

wavefunction 9y ago
You can drive or perhaps take a train. Traveling internationally or trans-continentally with a pet will subject them to lengthy quarantine as well. I suppose a private flight is an option for some folks.
- thinkloop 9y ago
  Quarantine is rare especially between western countries.
Beamer92 9y ago
This is a huge issue I agree with. I'd never fly with my dog in cargo. However, one thing that I think gets overlooked is that in accommodating people's pet, are we being unaccommodating to others? What about those who have pet allergies? They would expect to be able to fly in peace as well. Or people with life experience that makes them afraid of dogs. You'd think the airline would be easy to work with but is that really on the person with allergies to make themselves comfortable when the argument for ESAs is that we should all be accommodating to these people and their animals/issues? Do we need to have pet friendly/no pet flight options? Or do we need the airlines to be pro-active in accommodating for people with their pets when they could just as easily say "No. Deal with it"? Good luck convincing the airlines that they need to accommodate for society. They won't even make planes someone over 6'5" can sit in comfortably. Outside of Cats/Dogs, if somebody sits down next to me with their Emotional Support Snake there's gonna be some loud WTFs and GTFOs and just a problem overall. Could the airline talk to individual passengers about this snake being near them on their flight beforehand? Sure. Are they going to? Nope. Better to just say there will be no gosh darn snakes on this gosh darn plane.
- thinkloop 9y ago
  > What about those who have pet allergies? > Or people with life experience that makes them afraid of dogs These are quite rare, but they happen, and the solution has always been easy and amicable: move some people around, with the dog owner making the most compromise. > Do we need to have pet friendly/no pet flight options? This would be great. Right now even with ESA's there is a limit on the number of pets that can be on a flight, so you would have to find a different flight if the one you wanted already had some. By no means am I suggesting there should be a free-for-all. Only to have some limited arrangement where everyone can be happy. > Could the airline talk to individual passengers about this snake being near them on their flight beforehand? This kind of messaging is relatively easy nowadays, ranging from a little doggy icon on the website marking a specific flight as being pet-friendly, all the way to personalized sms/emails (which are already in place). Humans live densely, there are very few actions you can take that affect no-one in no way. We are dealing with this overly brutely in my opinion, there exists a configuration that increases net world happiness that we are not taking advantage of.
iamcasen 9y ago
I agree completely. Dogs by their very nature need to be with their humans most of the time. For those who travel often, it is not really an option to leave the dog at home alone all the time. If we are going to allow people to have dogs, then our society needs to allow dogs to move through it... This seems obvious. Dogs should be allowed to go everywhere that humans go (with certain extreme exceptions). We already have rules in place for unruly or destructive behavior, and the same should apply to dogs. If I'm traveling and I need to stay in a hotel, I don't want anyone to fuck with me because I have my dog. He is small, and silent. No one will even know he is there, and yet, it is always a huge pain in the ass to bring him places.

wavefunction 9y ago

You can drive or perhaps take a train. Traveling internationally or trans-continentally with a pet will subject them to lengthy quarantine as well. I suppose a private flight is an option for some folks.

thinkloop 9y ago
Quarantine is rare especially between western countries.

Beamer92 9y ago

This is a huge issue I agree with. I'd never fly with my dog in cargo. However, one thing that I think gets overlooked is that in accommodating people's pet, are we being unaccommodating to others? What about those who have pet allergies? They would expect to be able to fly in peace as well. Or people with life experience that makes them afraid of dogs. You'd think the airline would be easy to work with but is that really on the person with allergies to make themselves comfortable when the argument for ESAs is that we should all be accommodating to these people and their animals/issues? Do we need to have pet friendly/no pet flight options? Or do we need the airlines to be pro-active in accommodating for people with their pets when they could just as easily say "No. Deal with it"? Good luck convincing the airlines that they need to accommodate for society. They won't even make planes someone over 6'5" can sit in comfortably. Outside of Cats/Dogs, if somebody sits down next to me with their Emotional Support Snake there's gonna be some loud WTFs and GTFOs and just a problem overall. Could the airline talk to individual passengers about this snake being near them on their flight beforehand? Sure. Are they going to? Nope. Better to just say there will be no gosh darn snakes on this gosh darn plane.

thinkloop 9y ago
> What about those who have pet allergies? > Or people with life experience that makes them afraid of dogs These are quite rare, but they happen, and the solution has always been easy and amicable: move some people around, with the dog owner making the most compromise. > Do we need to have pet friendly/no pet flight options? This would be great. Right now even with ESA's there is a limit on the number of pets that can be on a flight, so you would have to find a different flight if the one you wanted already had some. By no means am I suggesting there should be a free-for-all. Only to have some limited arrangement where everyone can be happy. > Could the airline talk to individual passengers about this snake being near them on their flight beforehand? This kind of messaging is relatively easy nowadays, ranging from a little doggy icon on the website marking a specific flight as being pet-friendly, all the way to personalized sms/emails (which are already in place). Humans live densely, there are very few actions you can take that affect no-one in no way. We are dealing with this overly brutely in my opinion, there exists a configuration that increases net world happiness that we are not taking advantage of.

iamcasen 9y ago

I agree completely. Dogs by their very nature need to be with their humans most of the time. For those who travel often, it is not really an option to leave the dog at home alone all the time. If we are going to allow people to have dogs, then our society needs to allow dogs to move through it... This seems obvious. Dogs should be allowed to go everywhere that humans go (with certain extreme exceptions). We already have rules in place for unruly or destructive behavior, and the same should apply to dogs. If I'm traveling and I need to stay in a hotel, I don't want anyone to fuck with me because I have my dog. He is small, and silent. No one will even know he is there, and yet, it is always a huge pain in the ass to bring him places.