I am very disenheartened about SW response to this woman with an allergy. Do they remove people with peanut allergies from planes? NO, they do not serve peanuts on that flight and they ask ALL passengers to refrain from eating peanuts or any item with any hint of peanuts! The fact is that this was not a 'Service Dog' which are trained dogs for a purpose that is required by the owner. An 'Emotional Support Dog' is a dog that the owner needs/wants to have with them at all times. Unfortunately, I believe this is just the beginning of what will become an issue in America and I actually predicted this would happen before this event. It is VERY easy to deem your dog an "Emotional Support Dog" by getting a certificate on the internet...some require a doctor's note but we all know how easy that can be to obtain if you want one. I have two family members that have recently acquired this certificate for each of their dogs...I am almost embarassed to say. One did it to get into a condo that doesn't allow pets and the other just because she likes her dog to go everywhere with her like a child. This ESD certificate does NOT require or ensure that these dogs are trained to be in all kids of environments. Without training, there is no guarantee that these dogs won't bite, get into a dog fight with another ESD, relieve themselves without warning, follow owner commands or bark. This is just opening the door to all sorts of "Dog" issues on all pucblic modes of transportation, restaurants, stores and any public establishment where these ESD's are now allowed to accompany their owners. The certificate is very easy to obtain so I can only imagine how quickly this will spread (like wildfire) and we will have ESD's everywhere we go! Shame on Southwest for treating this woman that way. Why does she need to produce evidence of allergy? Should everyone with any kind of allergy carry documentation? What about scrutinizing the ESD certificate. Why didn't they offer to move the dog & owner to the back of the plane and her to the front? I was recenly on a SW flight and sat one seat away from a woman with a dog on her lap. The woman behind me told the stewardess that she was extremently allergic and SHE was moved to the back of the plane. That is wrong..the woman with the dog should have been moved. What about a "Dog Section" of the plane like they used to have for smoking? With separate air filtration...like they used to for smoking on planes? I agree with the above comments...when did dogs become more important than people?
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