Emotional support animals are the biggest scam. I have friends who openly get emotional support certificates for their animals on the Internet, and brag about how they are avoiding paying extra fees for their animals. It's selfish and it hurts people with real needs. I think they should only allow real service animals with proper medical documentation and not emotional support animals on planes.
There are properly trained support animals that their owners are absolutely justified in having.
But sadly, there are also definitely some folks taking advantage in order to bring their poorly behaved pets into places they wouldn't otherwise be allowed. It's pretty disgusting actually.
From the story – there's absolutely no excuse for this:
> In June, a 70-pound support dog mauled a passenger on a Delta flight in Atlanta, biting the man’s face multiple times.
Disclosure: dog owner for many years.
ESA's do not require training. Only service animals are trained.
I wish we could have nice things, but this is why we end up needing licenses/permits/fines.
In everything there's a balance between personal freedom to do whatever you want, and the accommodation of other humans who may have conflicting needs or preferences. When there are such conflicting needs and preferences, I feel it's incumbent on the party imposing unusual requirements on others to minimize their imposition. When it comes to selecting an animal to accompany you on flights, this entails choosing an animal that is likely to fit comfortably, not be unusually odorous or violent, and otherwise be relatively inoffensive to one's fellow passengers, at least to the extent one is able. (I understand that only certain breeds of dog are suitable as seeing eye dogs, and for that I will gladly make an exception, as these animals are usually exceptionally well-trained and are also almost necessary for their owners to function).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/1...