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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
And speaking of service animals, I was recently on a plane with a woman who had a giant Newfoundland with her as a service animal. She wasn't blind so I'm thinking it must have been for a mental issue like anxiety or something. The poor thing was so huge he took up two seats and still had his massive paws in the aisle.
A 21-year-old Harris County woman filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging employees on a flight to Los Angeles from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport failed to protect her while she slept from another passenger who masturbated to her and ejaculated in her hair, according to a lawsuit she filed last week in Tarrant County.
Read more: http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk…
Or this fellow who got arrested...
Murali Krishna Nookella, a local IT employee on his way to Denver for a conference, was masturbating in front of the woman sitting next to him during a Southwest Airlines flight originating in Philadelphia, according to a federal affidavit.
When Nookella got off Flight 228 on Monday, he was arrested and subsequently charged for obscene and indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, "by exhibiting his penis to a female passenger," according to the federal criminal complaint filed in Denver.
Before he was discovered with tissue in hand, Nookella appeared friendly toward the female passenger, according to the affidavit. The woman, identified only as C.S.A. in documents, soon opened her laptop, put on headphones and checked e-mails.
Then, Nookella leaned back in his seat and had a blanket up to his waist. "C.S.A. noticed that Nookella's eyes were closed as his hands moved all around his groin area underneath his blanket," the document said.
C.S.A. felt "the situation was weird" and started to pack her computer to change seats when she saw "him holding his erect penis," the affidavit said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepa…
Eventually the kid sprawled out on the floor and went to sleep under the three pairs of legs above him.
i would say that most cats and dogs are NOT comfortable when stuck in a small carrier, separated from their owners and stuck in a giant crazy loud maybe cold or hot place with all sorts of pressure differences, strange objects etc. most cats at least are miserable. and then "safe?"
Organizations like the Humane Society actually recommend to NEVER travel your pet by air, for the safety of the animal.
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/res…
They may be exaggerating bc they are the Humane Society (see website), but stating "comfortable and safe" like it is truth DOES make one want to hate the editorial Dan posted like it is self-serving bullshit.
"...animals continue to be killed, injured, or lost on commercial flights each year. Our pets can face risks including excessively hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation, scarcity of oxygen, and rough handling when flown in the "cargo" area of a plane."
and
"The airline industry treats live animals as baggage. In the past, airlines have neither responded appropriately to reports of animal injuries, nor provided accurate information to the public."
i would say that most cats and dogs are NOT comfortable when stuck in a small carrier, separated from their owners and stuck in a giant crazy loud maybe cold or hot place with all sorts of pressure differences, strange objects etc. most cats at least are miserable. and then "safe?"
Organizations like the Humane Society actually recommend to NEVER travel your pet by air, for the safety of the animal.
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/res…
They may be exaggerating bc they are the Humane Society (see website), but stating "comfortable and safe" like it is truth DOES make one want to hate the editorial Dan posted like it is self-serving bullshit.
"...animals continue to be killed, injured, or lost on commercial flights each year. Our pets can face risks including excessively hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation, scarcity of oxygen, and rough handling when flown in the "cargo" area of a plane."
and
"The airline industry treats live animals as baggage. In the past, airlines have neither responded appropriately to reports of animal injuries, nor provided accurate information to the public."
As for the articles by the CMA, if you read the comments most people are opposed to this plan for the very sensible reason that far too few people are sufficiently allergic to dogs and cats (particularly when, as is the case with most airlines, they must be transported in a closed carrier under a seat) to make this a real problem.
So, thanks for the smile, Dan. I needed it.
Wouldn't it be great if dog owners had a sense of humor too?
I've done this a few times to move overseas and back, and it's not really such a super fun convenience for me or my cat that I do it voluntarily on a whim. But I make that reservation WELL in advance, and someone with allergies is welcome to call the airline about it and I'm sure they'd block all the pet reservations and steer callers towards a pet-free flight, or they could ask to be seated away from pets before boarding. But of course people with allergies never do this, they just expect everyone else to accommodate their allergies after they're already on the plane.
Oh and most of the time nobody even NOTICES that I have a cat in the cabin. Certainly no one has ever showed signs of allergies. I'm guessing a cat in a carrier under the seat cowering the whole time isn't kicking up a lot of dander.
But dander allergies are no reason to ban pets from airplanes. It's too bad pets make you sneezy (certainly explains your shitty attitude towards dogs), but are you really that big of a baby that you can't just take a benadryl and deal with it like the rest of us adults who have allergies?
In defense of the dog owners, about once a year, a kid who wasn't completely potty trained would piss through their underwear and get it all over the floor. The parents also never volunteered to clean it up.
And if you're moving? Drive dumbass.
They might have more of a sense of humor about it if you didn't have a long track record of being a whiny bitch.
And even when he goes outside, I'm expected to carry baggies and clean up after him... not because my area has a pooper scooper law (it doesn't) but because *he's a service dog* and if people with service dogs don't clean up after their dog, it reflects badly on all service dogs/owners. That's the kind of stuff you're taught when you actually go through service dog training.
Whenever I take it on Air Canada I have to watch out and make sure the Minister of Fisheries doesn't club it to death.
Thing is, I love animals. I'm going to vet school next year (I have medications I can take if I know that I'm going to be exposed beforehand). And I think animals traveling in the cargo hold is a terrible idea. There should really be a separate space for pets to travel, with animal welfare policies in place.
The animals used for emotional support were the offenders. Unfortunately, in California, if the owner has a letter from a mental health expert stating the pet is needed, then I have to let them in or face a lawsuit. The only restrictions were that the animal could not come in contact with eating utensils or pose a general health risk (so I could refuse snakes, rats, etc). However, training as a service animal is not required.
And 45 for the win.
Easily.
New York just changed its laws to allow beekeeping in the city. To the dismay of some who are allergic to bees and COULD DIE if stung.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/03/…
What do we commenters think of that? Surely the idea has relevance.
As a beekeeper who had to fight a legal battle in my hometown, I can tell you that the anaphylaxis-related fearmongering is just stupid.
People who are allergic to bees would need to carry Epi-Pens anyway, as the allergy typically covers wasp venom as well. Also, bees tend to fly about 30 feet above the ground, and are only really found lower near nectar sources or the hive itself.
Bees also will not sting unless provoked, unlike wasps which, being predators, will go out of their way to attack people.
Now the threat of Africanized bees is in some states real. The Africanized bee (Apis mellifera ligustica x scutellata) is overly defensive and may attack en masse at very slight provocation. However, cities like New York are too far north for African strains to survive the winter, adapted as they are for a much warmer climate.
People just get panicky around bees, even though it's wasps that we should really be worrying about.
So forgive me if I find it irritating when I see a cat on a plane. Of course, I'm sure the cat owner who couldn't put precious into the cargo hold doesn't give two shits about the man wheezing across from her. Perhaps she is even annoyed by his suddenly loud breathing, as she doesn't realize that her cat is the cause of my husband's misery. I'm talking to you, lady with the cat-carrier on our honeymoon flight who shot my hubby dirty looks while my husband gasped and coughed his way through a four-hour flight. You're the reason I had no sexy-times the first night of my honeymoon.
Wasps, yellowjackets, and the like are more aggressive, as are Africanized bees, but normal honeybees don't just sting people who walk by, nor do bumblebees or nearly any other species of bee.
Every other time I have been on a plane, however, I have first made sure to hug and play with the cat, so I would be covered head to toe in cat hair.
And anyone who jokes about poisoning animals is an ass.
You can call the airline before hand and ask if there are any animals on the flight (you have to reserve in advance) and they can accommodate you. Hell you can even ask for an upgrade.
But if you think for one second I'm going to put my dog at risk of death because I'm moving overseas and have no choice but to put him on a flight you are mistaken. My dog will lay in his carrier under the seat. I'll do my best to keep him away from you.
But sorry. I don't want to arrive in my new city with a dead corpse. If it means you wheeze, it means you wheeze. I guess you really should have thought about 'allergens' before entering a closed environment dumbass. 8 hours of your nasal drip is worth my dog's life.
No apologies here.
It's more effective (and nicer) than posting snarky comments on the Internet.
Trust me, if I could never get on a plane again I would. I am one of those people who have allergies/asthma so severe that being in a plane with an animal would cause my eyes and airway to swell shut. I have been admitted to the emergency room several times over the years.
People don't expect to see a damn animal on an airplane - even a service animal is pretty rare. I do everything I can to protect myself in advance, but you can't know some self-righteous douche of a pet owner is going to decide to hit the red-eye to Denver with you. 10 years ago, you would NEVER have seen an animal on a plane that wasn't a service animal.
And once and for all people, you can not equate pets with children. While both may be irritating on a plane, only one of them has the chance to grow into a worthwhile, contributing member of society.
Because I was flying into Boston in early March, there was every chance that my cat would have gotten stranded in LAX (a fate I wouldn't wish on Newt Gingrich) until the temperature changed, which could have been days or even weeks - and on top of the distress this would have caused both of us, I would have been paying exorbitant kenneling fees the whole time.
I would never put my cat through unnecessary travel - by plane or any other means - because it makes him anxious and miserable, and I certainly wouldn't want to cause anyone else any discomfort by inducing an allergy attack (in coach of all places). But in this case, being able to take my cat in the cabin with me truly was what allowed me to bring him with me to my new home at all. I don't think that's unreasonable.
I am so not even kidding. I'd much rather have my own crate in cargo.
I was not stating an opinion one way or another.
In any event, air travel is tough on pets. Most dog and cat owners try to avoid dragging their pets onto planes when they can.