An emotional support dog on a delta flight attacked another passenger before takeoff [discussion]

As a dog owner, I understand how helpful and reassuring a dog can be. However, I've also encountered badly behaved and disruptive ESAs who make long trips feel even longer -- nothing like this though. I don't even understand how a 50 lb dog could fit into a middle seat with its owner. This seems like poor accommodation on the part of the airline. I mean, I'm a fairly docile, well behaved human and even I've been tempted to bite a fellow passenger over an arm rest. Middle seats bring out the worst in every species.But in all seriousness, ESAs who are bad travelers are a big source of frustration for me. Personally, I'm as sympathetic to people traveling with their pets as I am to parents with fussy babies. I once took a bus ride with a pug who made a truly unnatural whining shriek approximately every 20 minutes, effectively squashing any chance I had to fall asleep. But it didn't bother me because I understood it wasn't something the owner could control. When I later tried to bring my own dog on the same bus route, however, I was told that only service dogs and ESAs were permitted on board. Ngl, I retroactively changed my opinion of the woman and her pug, who I've traveled with on the same bus several times since. Every time, without fail, that dog starts wheezing and barking around the halfway point of the 6-hour bus ride.When you see an ESA on a flight or bus, do you find you have higher expectations for its behavior? Have you seen an ESA behaving badly, in a way you suspect has to be counterproductive to the person whose emotional wellbeing the dog is meant to support? Do you ever find yourself thinking, "damn, compared to that, my dog would be such a good ESA," and then struggling to talk yourself out of pursuing it further? via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2sSFTXz