A passenger who brought his Great Dane aboard a commercial flight just this week is being ridiculed by the internet. As reported by The Independent, Rob, a content creator and life coach, took to Instagram to upload a video of a fellow passenger being accompanied by his massive emotional support animal.
The video has since gone viral online, nabbing a whopping 4.8 million views on Instagram, and in it, a female air hostess can be seen apprehensively greeting the man at the entrance. “Hey, welcome aboard,” she said to him, before the canine stepped on her foot with its hind legs.
Rob's caption, strewn across the video, reads.
“Have we taken this support animal thing too far?”
Here's how the internet reacted:
The wave of criticism only intensified from there, though some had conflicting opinions:
"People who abuse the rules ruin it for everyone," one user pointed out.
"In my experience dogs are much better behaved than humans. The dog won't be politically annoying, won't start a fist fight or even a verbal argument. Probably will be neater too. I'd rather sit next to a dog any day," someone else opined.
"I love dogs. Really. Even big dogs in particular. And yet, people like this are a huge issue. People who insist their non-trained dog is an "emotional support animal" and claim it has legal protections. No, it doesn't."
A user suggested,
"Maybe “pet friendly” flights. You have to fly on those with your dog. If we can’t have peanuts, dogs should be limited so people who are allergic or uncomfortable around dogs don’t have to fly on those flights."
Many more chimed in as well:
"Respectfully disagree. You don't know why he has that dog that he does and has the paperwork for it & is none of your business either. If I have to buy a seat for him it's none of your goddamn business," someone stated.
Someone else asked,
"This needs to be criminalized. What if someone on the plane is allergic to dogs?"
"I’m in talks about getting an emotional support elephant, so that everyone can sit around talking about the elephant in room."
"I saw a woman in the grocery store a few weeks ago. She had THREE yellow lab service dogs. She showed no outward signs of any physical disability, so I suspect these were purely for her emotional support," one user weighed in.
While a few users did support the man and his choice to bring the massive Great Dane aboard, an overwhelmingly large number of users were upset.
Can Great Danes become service animals?
Here's what the official US Service Animals website has to say:
"The Great Dane makes a great service dog, depending on what your needs look like. While they’re not the best with mental disabilities, they’re large dogs that know how to be gentle. This makes them ideal for people with physical disabilities. For example, they can pull wheelchairs, help people remain balanced, and much more."
As for if Great Danes can become service dogs, the website states:
"Yes, Great Danes can become service dogs. In fact, most dogs can become service dogs with the proper training. You can either adopt a service dog or have your Great Dane trained by a professional if they’re young enough."
Just last year, the US Department of Transportation cracked down on regulations surrounding emotional support canines, such that only trained service dogs will be permitted to board a flight with their owners with disabilities. Per the New York Post, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said:
"The days of Noah’s Ark in the air are hopefully coming to an end."
According to the outlet, the move comes as airline passengers recently tried to get their peacocks, pigs, miniature horses, turkeys, and snakes aboard, brushing them off as emotional support animals. Now, disabled owners will have to fill out forms pertaining to their emotional support animals' training.
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As reported by The Daily Mail, however, the rules have been coming under fire as people are claiming they are now having to deal with much more pushback than ever for taking their service animals aboard.
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