No More ESA's (Comfort Animals) ?

The TSA is considering changing who gets to bring their pets on planes. The changes would apply to comfort animals not properly trained service dogs . This will impact air travel not cruises but I believe cruise lines have taken their cue from the airlines . It would be logical to believe any changes will eventually impact cruises .

What say you ?

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/211266767-story

We had some lady here in town that went nuts when Safeway grocery store would not let her bring her Boconstrictor into the store. She said it was a comfort pet for her husband! This comfort pet crap has gotten crazy and should be STOPPED!

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I think there are a lot of pros and cons on this issue and that you are opening an hornet's nest. What it boils down to, without the animal, is the person subject to a life threatening situation or personal harm?

For all you “sea lawyers”, where does the ADA stand on the issue?

Betty

The TSA is considering changing who gets to bring their pets on planes. The changes would apply to comfort animals not properly trained service dogs . This will impact air travel not cruises but I believe cruise lines have taken their cue from the airlines . It would be logical to believe any changes will eventually impact cruises .

 

What say you ?

 

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/211266767-story

The TSA is part of the USA Homeland Secruity which is part of the USA Federal Goverment. With that said it appears the TSA is actually beginning to comply with the definition of a service dog as defined by the USA Federal Department of Justice specific to the Americans wtih Disability Act (ADA) Title II and Title III which does NOT recognize "comfort dogs" and or "emotional support dogs" as a "service animals".

The Department of Justice specific to ADA Title II and Title III defines Service Animals as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

While the TSA has the mechanism and jurisdiction to move on this issue, and do it as quickly as the government moves, I don't see this affecting cruises in the near future. The handling of ESA's or even genuine Service Animals on foreign flag cruise ships is not governed by the ADA, but by the cruise lines' internal policies, so even though they have been free to ban ESA's all along, I doubt you will see much change, certainly not in the near future.