“Emotional Support” Animals Have No Place On Airplanes

Can’t face the hassle of flying without your precious Petunia to give you emotional support? Make sure it doesn’t smell, defecate or howl if you are traveling on US Airways.

A passenger and her large pig were asked to leave a recent US Airways flight after it became disruptive. Who could have seen that coming? If you can’t fly without a pig, perhaps you should just stay home. Flying is a stressful, dehumanizing experience. We would all be more comfortable if we could, for example, bring a bottle of water. Or if we had any legroom at all. We don’t want to be confronted with your pig, even if it is well-behaved. Airplanes are not petting zoos.

We were on a flight recently where a woman was walking her dog up and down the aisle. This was disruptive and ought not to have been allowed. But airlines should not put the burden on other passengers to complain. They need to have policies, and the policies need to be enforced by airline personnel.

Let’s put an end to this animal madness.