I have an emotional support dog. She’s actually trained to do some things that help me with some of my problems (along the lines of panic attacks and OCD, but I won’t get into details) so I guess, by definition, she’s technically a service animal. I am in my mid-twenties and my dog is small so I don’t publicly claim that she is a service animal because I don’t want to have to deal with the criticism of being called a “Paris Hilton wannabe…” In fact, until the fees became completely outrageous, I paid for her to fly with me on airplanes, stay with me in hotels and live with me in my apartment so I wouldn’t have to deal with people’s comments.

The last couple of times I have flown, she has been with me as an “emotional support” dog. I have the necessary documentation from my doctor to back my claim.

The issue I am having is this: while I understand that many people try to take advantage of the system by passing their animals off as “emotional support” animals or what have you, the stress and embarrassment that come from having to legitimately make this claim and produce the documentation can make matters worse than they were to begin with. Let me explain by sharing my latest experience with you. Please note that I realize the airline acted within their rights.

I booked my flights a month in advance. From that time up until the night before I left, I made 4 separate calls to the airline to inform them I was flying with an emotional support animal and to confirm this was in their system. I was flying on Delta and this was a round-trip. Although I didn’t experience any difficulty on my trip away, coming home was a bit different. The first problem I encountered was that I was not allowed to check-in online. This, of course, was Delta’s way of getting me to check-in at the ticket counter and to give them the opportunity to interrogate me and/or try to get me to pay. I know this, because as I have said, I used to pay to have my dog fly with me before the cost was raised to $150 one-way.

I clearly have huge issues with flying, hence the ESA, so I was already stressing out. I was furthermore worried that somehow, I’d be refused boarding. I was afraid they’d be too technical and claim that some type of wording or something in the letter wasn’t exactly what it needed to be. (This actually happened to me over Christmas with Delta… I was refused boarding and it took me 24 hours to get home for Christmas. I will never forget the stress and panic attacks I had that day!)

As I waited in the line for over an hour, my breathing began to quicken. I could feel my heart beat faster. My mouth became so dry, that I literally lost my voice until I could find my water bottle. I became light-headed and kept feeling like I was going to pass out. This was the time before the flight that I usually go through my imagery and exercises to calm me down, but instead, I was standing in this line. It was really upsetting me! I finally approached the desk. The woman behind the counter was actually nice (thank heavens) but she wasn’t familiar with Delta’s policy regarding an emotional support animal. She inquired about this with her manager or coworker who was standing next to her, helping another customer.

The man very loudly exclaimed “She can only have the dog if she has a letter from her doctor stating she has a disability.” His voice was deep and loud, and it carried back to the massive line standing behind me. I turned around to see just about every face staring in my direction. I think I blushed, and I began to shake. I was so afraid of everyone thinking I was a fraud because I’m young and my dog is small. I was very upset. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the man repeated himself about 2 or 3 more times. I think he liked to hear himself repeat policy – like it made him feel important or knowledgeable or whatever. He looked at me (and so did the customer he was helping) and said, “Do you have documentation from your doctor?”

I couldn’t even speak. I just nodded my head and pulled my letter out of my bag for the agent to read. It was so embarrassing because my hand was shaking as I did it, and everyone was watching.

The nice lady read my letter and I think she could tell that the last thing I needed was more stress, so she didn’t look at it long. The loud agent then said, “And you need to have one of these tags on your bag.” It was the same, typical green one that they always used to give me when I paid to carry my dog on. He then looked at his co-worker and said, “Did the letter say that she needed the dog to be with her in flight??”

I was eventually given my boarding pass. When I arrived at the gate, even though my dog was in the system as a support animal, the gate agent stopped me as I was boarding to check my tag and, I assume, make sure I wasn’t trying to “get away” with anything. It actually made me mad. How many more employees were going to question/interrogate me? What more did I have to do to get on the d*** plane?

By this time, I was just so upset and humiliated, not to mention TERRIFIED for my flight… right as I walked on the plane, I began to hyperventilate. It was HORRIBLE! One of the flight attendants was standing in front of me and said, “Oh dear, honey. Do you need a napkin?” I nodded. It was very sweet of her, and immediately started a waterfall of tears. I was MORTIFIED at this point. I was in the front of the plane that was nearly full… all of first class and coach could see me hysterically crying! And what’s worse, my seat was the very last one on the plane, so I had to walk all the way to the back like that!

I had also been told by one of the other flight attendants that my dog HAD to remain in her bag so while I was sitting there, hysterical, my dog was trying to get to me to calm me down. She was scratching her bag, trying to get out and was very upset (during a normal, calm flight, she does not make a peep. She has been trained). So, my emotional support dog was of no use to me in this situation because I was not allowed to have access to her.

Needless to say, the flight was a nightmare. I broke into loud sobs as we took off and spent the remainder of the time trying to hide my face. I kept my head down after we landed as I walked off the plane. ☹

The point I’m trying to make here is that while the airline acted in accordance with the law, their lack of sensitivity (the man yelling my personal information out in front of the crowd), being questioned over and over after I had adequately planned for this trip, and the law itself contributed to making my flight even WORSE than it could have been. The point of having my dog with me and paying all of the money I have to get her trained is so that I can AVOID the very emotional response that I had in this experience.

Like I said, I realize that people try to take advantage of the “emotional support animal” rules to avoid paying for their pets (and heaven forbid, keeping the airline from capitalizing on their animals), but I’d rather see many people take advantage of this than see one person who legitimately NEEDS this, have to go through what I went through.

Honestly, with the way the rules are set now (and if the airline chooses to follow them to the most rigid extent possible), I believe that the benefits of flying with an ESA are negated by the stress that the airline places on the already emotionally unstable passenger. Why must we be treated this way? Why must we have to show documentation when others do not? Just because my problems are not visible does not mean that they don’t exist. I am still so upset!

Does anyone know of any group that is trying to push for more rights for those of us with ESAs? I’d really like to share my story with them.

Thank you for reading this.

It is unfortunate that ESAs are receiving a lot of bad publicity. Even worse is the Paris Hilton syndrome where everyone has to have their dog with them. It has become a major problem where I live which is an afluent community. The problems that stem from traveling with an ESA/PSD arise from years of abuse and people unwilling to challenge an alleged SD regardless of type. Since you sais your dog has been trained to perform some PSD tasks them my suggestion ios to take the next step and train for the pat. If you qualify as an individual for a SD/PSD then the ESA classification goes out the window and your dog is now a PSD even though he also fills the role as an ESA.

Example. By legal definition I fill the requirements to won an SD. My dog does fulfill a position as an ESA. However he is also trained in tasks specific to a PSD, a mobility and alert dog and is in PAT training. Technically he is a Serivce dog in training (SDiT) Under Calif state law he has all the privlidges an SD has including travel despite his being primarily a PSD. As long as you fulfill the requirement of law you cannot be refused. In your case it seems to me the extra step in training might just well be the answer, raise your ESA to the level of a PSD.

It is unfortunate we sometimes have to take steps like these bnut we do it to protect ourselves because the law is not always written that way.

Hi Tiffy, I am a PSD handler (agoraphobia with panic disorder) and if your pup is trained to mitigate your condition and you are disabled, she is a service animal! I completely understand about not wanting to have to deal with people (I was the same way) but you may find that a service animal is more accepted than a ESA and if you choose to vest her, you can use a generic "medical alert" SD vest to keep your condition private. Just a thought to help out...