The flipside is that these actions can also be cruel to animals. I've sat next to one very very miserable non-trained service "comfort" dog on a long flight, who unfortunately got sick (vomiting) mid-flight.
Unfortunately, due to what you mention it seems it's most humane to drive your pet across country rather than a relatively short flight.
As a benefit, this would avoid exposing people with allergies to pets on random flights; if you book the weekly pet flight, you know what you're getting into.
Airplanes are for people anyway.
The airline refunded our tickets, but only after we rejected their helpful suggestion to put the dog down and fly without him. Bet you can guess the airline.
On the other hand, I see some fun & adventure in the three week drive from Canada to Panama.
Personally, I think people that need service animals deserve that right and should be respected. So I just don't fly with my dog. No real need to, there are plenty of local boarding options, including "doggie daycare" places where he's never locked up.
Yeah, but it's really bad for all the people out there with legitimate medical issues who do actually need service animals.