I was reading this, quite interested to see what the real concern was - and at first, it seemed the only real concern was that the airlines weren't getting their potential fees, which irritated me to no end...bc I've had it w/ the airlines complaining about their add-on fees.
Then wayyyyyy down toward the end of the article, there was this:
"...Critics say the use of phony support pets hurts travelers with disabilities and their service dogs.
Davis said clients traveling with legitimate service dogs have been bumped from their flights because the airline couldn't accommodate all the animals people wanted to bring on board. "They can miss connections, miss their flights."
And Paws-trained dogs confronted by a growling, aggressive dog posing as a service animal may feel so threatened that they can no longer perform their tasks because "they're looking around each corner, wondering where did that dog go."
Haneline, of Leader Dogs for the Blind, which trains as many as 200 dogs a year for people who are blind or visually impaired, said the guide dog industry "fought long and hard to get equal access for our clients to public accommodations all 50 states. When anyone can walk around with a service dog, you dilute that."..."
If true service dogs are getting bumped from flights bc of fake service dogs...oooo...that is most def NOT cool.
