WEBVTT - How Are Airlines Cracking Down on Emotional Support Animals?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbam here the skies aren't always so friendly. A

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<v Speaker 1>couple incidents have been reported of large dogs fighting airline

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<v Speaker 1>passengers as the number of pets flying as service and

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<v Speaker 1>emotional support animals has skyrocketed. According to Delta alone, it

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<v Speaker 1>was up a hundred and fifty percent between twenty fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty seventeen. This prompted the airline and others to

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<v Speaker 1>enact more stringent requirements for onboard animals. Delta's rules now

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<v Speaker 1>say that owners of emotional support animals will be required

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<v Speaker 1>to show proof of their pets health or vaccinations at

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<v Speaker 1>least forty eight hours before a flight. They also need

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<v Speaker 1>to present a statement from their doctor declaring a mental

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<v Speaker 1>health disability. Finally, owners must also sign a statement saying

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<v Speaker 1>their animal can behave. Emotional support animals occupy a different

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<v Speaker 1>category from service animals, which are highly trained to perform specific,

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<v Speaker 1>potentially life saving tasks for people living with a disability.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke via email with Beth Zimmerman, founder of Pets

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<v Speaker 1>for Patriots, an organization that matches shelter dogs and cats

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<v Speaker 1>with veterans. She said Emotional support animals are companion pets,

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<v Speaker 1>ordinary house pets that are recommended by an individual's mental

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<v Speaker 1>health professional for the alleviation of symptoms of an emotional disability.

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<v Speaker 1>Emotional support animals do not have to be task trained

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<v Speaker 1>or have any unique training at all. Their mere presence

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<v Speaker 1>is assistive. Essays don't even have to be dogs. Snakes,

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<v Speaker 1>rats and pigs can be used as e says a

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<v Speaker 1>One photo that circulated the Internet recently claimed to picture

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<v Speaker 1>an emotional support peacock. Airlines don't have to accommodate unusual

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<v Speaker 1>service animals, though, but they do have to provide the

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<v Speaker 1>passenger with a written explanation of their reasoning. We also

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<v Speaker 1>spoke via email with psychologist Tannisia Ranger, who works mainly

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<v Speaker 1>with veterans. She said, the research on the positive impact

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<v Speaker 1>that emotional support animals have on people who are struggling

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<v Speaker 1>with mental illness is pretty plentiful. They have a calming

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<v Speaker 1>of effect lowering stress levels in the owner. They offer

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<v Speaker 1>companionship and help to lessen isolation. They offer a sense

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<v Speaker 1>of security and protection for those who struggle with PTSD,

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<v Speaker 1>and to get a feel for how this works, we

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<v Speaker 1>spoke via email with Ashley Jacobs, CEO of Sitting for

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<v Speaker 1>a Cause. Jacobs has hereditary hemochromatosis, which requires her to

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<v Speaker 1>have regular phlebotomies, to which she always brings her nine

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<v Speaker 1>year old Golden retriever Diamond. Jacob said needles are my

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<v Speaker 1>biggest fear in the world, so my E s A

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<v Speaker 1>comes with me to all my phlebotomies. Having her with

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<v Speaker 1>me keeps me from panicking during the procedure. Yet, Jacobs

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<v Speaker 1>also said she wouldn't take Diamond with her on a plane.

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<v Speaker 1>For one, she doesn't need her dog for traveling. Also quote,

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<v Speaker 1>while she is a very well behaved dog, it's hard

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<v Speaker 1>to guarantee she wouldn't get a little antsy or anxious

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<v Speaker 1>about the new sound, smells, an environment on a plane.

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<v Speaker 1>She's also about seventy pounds and takes up a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of space. So for the comfort of other passengers and

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<v Speaker 1>to avoid giving E s A is a potentially bad

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<v Speaker 1>rep I figured it's best to leave her at home.

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<v Speaker 1>Unlike service dogs, who are allowed access pretty much everywhere

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<v Speaker 1>by federal law, the only legal rights essays have our

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<v Speaker 1>reasonable accommodation in no pet housing and the right to

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<v Speaker 1>accompany their owners in the cabin of a commercial aircraft

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<v Speaker 1>without having to be kept in a container or to

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<v Speaker 1>pay a pet transportation fee, which is typically at least

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred dollars each way. Many passengers looking to avoid

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<v Speaker 1>this fee have started to classify their pets as emotional

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<v Speaker 1>support animals. Psychologist Rangers said there's a lot of fraud

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<v Speaker 1>out there. A cursory Google search will find you any

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<v Speaker 1>number of websites where you can buy letters from clinicians,

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<v Speaker 1>tags and vests which may not be legitimate, and when

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<v Speaker 1>untrained animals tech innocent bystanders, it further creates stigma for

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<v Speaker 1>those who actually need service animals. Christifed Father, operations administrator

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<v Speaker 1>for Assistance Dogs International, said individuals with disabilities often have

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<v Speaker 1>additional stress as they do not know when they may

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<v Speaker 1>encounter a non trained essay dog that may inflict harm

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<v Speaker 1>on them and they're trained assistance dog. The general public

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<v Speaker 1>is also affected as they cannot determine which assistance dog

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<v Speaker 1>team is trained or which ones are non trained ESA dogs.

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<v Speaker 1>The jury is still out on exactly what needs to

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<v Speaker 1>happen to rectify the issue, but most industry experts agree

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<v Speaker 1>that something needs to be done. The air carrier access

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<v Speaker 1>Act lists these specific rules regarding service animals and e

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<v Speaker 1>says aboard aircraft, and states that airlines may request documentation

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<v Speaker 1>for e says, such as the type that Delta requires.

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<v Speaker 1>The rules say airlines can determine whether the animal is

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<v Speaker 1>truly a service a support animal by quote observing the

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<v Speaker 1>behavior of the animal, looking for physical indicators such as harness,

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<v Speaker 1>and accepting the credible verbal assurances of an individual with

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<v Speaker 1>a disability using the animal. Some nineteen states have laws

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<v Speaker 1>prohibiting people from passing off their pets as service animals,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're hard to enforce due to rules from the

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<v Speaker 1>Americans with Disabilities Act concerning what questions a business owner

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<v Speaker 1>may ask about a service animal. For instance, a business

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<v Speaker 1>owner cannot ask for documentation or demonstration of a service

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<v Speaker 1>dogs training. There's also no registry of service trained animals.

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney Aaron Jackson has written about the hostility she encountered

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<v Speaker 1>from airline employees and passengers when she traveled with her

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<v Speaker 1>es A. She said, Unfortunately, the prevalence of e s

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<v Speaker 1>a vest and registry scams desensitizes the public from understanding

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<v Speaker 1>the impact and importance of the essays to individuals who

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<v Speaker 1>truly need them for therapeutic purposes instead of viewing the

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<v Speaker 1>animal as a therapy tool. Fellow travelers may resent other

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<v Speaker 1>passengers who are allowed to bring their pet on the plane. However,

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<v Speaker 1>note that because e Says don't wear identification, other travelers

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<v Speaker 1>may not be able to distinguish between a pet and

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<v Speaker 1>an e s A. Today's episode was written by Alia

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<v Speaker 1>Hot and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics with unexpected peacocks, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com.