MIflyer12 wrote:

A passenger doesn't have to buy a seat for a service dog. Choice of a Great Dane may be ... unfortunate. Carriers can exclude animals that are too big. Other people's problems - allergies, 'uncomfortable' - can't be used as a reason to exclude passenger and service animal.

Punching a pregnant woman? WTF.

I disagree. If someone has a major allergic reaction to an animal then there is an issue. Why should another passenger suffer because you need your service animal. They need to breathe.

I disagree. If someone has a major allergic reaction to an animal then there is an issue. Why should another passenger suffer because you need your service animal. They need to breathe.

First, the law explicitly allows service dogs, so while it may sound harsh, the allergic passenger will have to deal with the inconvenience. That's just how it is legally.

Second, there are always ways around this. The dog can be in one row, the allergic person (after identifying themselves to the cabin crew) can be seated far away. A little pet dander is very different from cigarette smoke, for example. The dog can be in row 10 and the allergic passenger in row 30, or vice versa, and I seriously doubt that there will be any issues. It really is do-able. It all comes down to being flexible and trying to accommodate everyone with a minimum of disruption. It really is amazing what can be accomplished when people choose to act rationally and calmly.

Personally, I'd rather sit next to a well-behaved service dog than next to a great many humans. Dogs are often much more loyal, pleasant and inoffensive. Oh, and they like tummy rubs!

usflyer msp wrote:

Before I completely condemn the man, I need to know if the great dane had its own seat or not. I would be extremely pissed if I had to share my already extremely small space (this is F9 after all!) with a 150 lb animal on 4.5 hour flight. There is no excuse for punching the woman however...

The question is? Why have the ruckus during the approach? If he didn't know the dog was there before takeoff? then why worry about it during Landing?
Ban this nitwit from ALL airline flights and he can take the BUS home!

thaiflyer wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

A passenger doesn't have to buy a seat for a service dog. Choice of a Great Dane may be ... unfortunate. Carriers can exclude animals that are too big. Other people's problems - allergies, 'uncomfortable' - can't be used as a reason to exclude passenger and service animal.

Punching a pregnant woman? WTF.

Just for my interest, I know that service dogs doens't need a seat but how do they handle that in practice?
Say for example it is a A320 ( 3 x 3 ) and somebody has a Great Dane as a service dog.
Where do they leave the dog if the plane is fully booked.
I don't think that the dog will fit in front of the passenger without using the seat next to it.

No seat row is so tight that the dog can't lay on the floor at the passenger's feet.

strfyr51 wrote:

thaiflyer wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

A passenger doesn't have to buy a seat for a service dog. Choice of a Great Dane may be ... unfortunate. Carriers can exclude animals that are too big. Other people's problems - allergies, 'uncomfortable' - can't be used as a reason to exclude passenger and service animal.

Punching a pregnant woman? WTF.

Just for my interest, I know that service dogs doens't need a seat but how do they handle that in practice?
Say for example it is a A320 ( 3 x 3 ) and somebody has a Great Dane as a service dog.
Where do they leave the dog if the plane is fully booked.
I don't think that the dog will fit in front of the passenger without using the seat next to it.

No seat row is so tight that the dog can't lay on the floor at the passenger's feet.

A Great Dane is typically about the same weight as a healthy adult man (~70kg), is almost 3 feet tall and of course quite a bit longer. That dog would take up almost all the floor space of 3 seats. Totally legal or not, losing a good majority of your already sparse space in a plane, when you've paid for a seat just like every other human, would irk the hell out of me.

Absolutely no justification for his actions, but we do seem to create laws that anyone with even an ounce of common sense could see as likely to cause problems. Why even put the guy in the position that his anger management issues come to light?

strfyr51 wrote:

thaiflyer wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

Just for my interest, I know that service dogs doens't need a seat but how do they handle that in practice?
Say for example it is a A320 ( 3 x 3 ) and somebody has a Great Dane as a service dog.
Where do they leave the dog if the plane is fully booked.
I don't think that the dog will fit in front of the passenger without using the seat next to it.

No seat row is so tight that the dog can't lay on the floor at the passenger's feet.

I don't know for sure but i guess that a great Dane would be struggling to lay on the floor and probable it's even impossible to do it without interfering with the neighbors space.

Virtual737 wrote:

strfyr51 wrote:

thaiflyer wrote:

Just for my interest, I know that service dogs doens't need a seat but how do they handle that in practice?
Say for example it is a A320 ( 3 x 3 ) and somebody has a Great Dane as a service dog.
Where do they leave the dog if the plane is fully booked.
I don't think that the dog will fit in front of the passenger without using the seat next to it.

No seat row is so tight that the dog can't lay on the floor at the passenger's feet.

A Great Dane is typically about the same weight as a healthy adult man (~70kg), is almost 3 feet tall and of course quite a bit longer. That dog would take up almost all the floor space of 3 seats. Totally legal or not, losing a good majority of your already sparse space in a plane, when you've paid for a seat just like every other human, would irk the hell out of me.

Absolutely no justification for his actions, but we do seem to create laws that anyone with even an ounce of common sense could see as likely to cause problems. Why even put the guy in the position that his anger management issues come to light?

Maybe this guys should have a service dog to help him handle his anger management.

Also for those that have severe allergies - they are medications and ways to remediate their allergies...for many, especially a the blind and def, service animals are an only alternative and essential for their mobility and well being.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/05/1 ... rport.html

According to this article, the man did not even notice the dog until it stood up after the flight landed at MCO and was taxiing to the gate, and I read another article where Manley (the dog puncher) admitted that the dog “startled” him when it stood up after landing, which is why he did what he did (he admits that he hit the dog, but claims he hit it by accident). What I’m having trouble understanding is why, if both the allergies and the lack of space were really such big issues, why did neither of them come up until almost the end of the 3 hr flight? The allergy issue came up during final descent, and the space encroachment issue came up during taxi at the end of the flight. If these issues were big enough for Manley that he felt he needed to punch the dog, I would think that they would have come up much earlier (likely before departure from COS). To me, something seems off about the justification Manley had for his actions (allergies, space encroachment) given the timing of the incident.

The dude punched a dog. HE PUNCHED A DOG! Listen, I'm not a dog person by any means, but don't deliberately punch a dog. Come on! And punching a pregnant woman? What kind of low life garbage piece of you know what are you?

However, the article doesn't state whether or not the woman was deaf or her partner was deaf. Not very clear.

evank516 wrote:

The dude punched a dog. HE PUNCHED A DOG! Listen, I'm not a dog person by any means, but don't deliberately punch a dog. Come on! And punching a pregnant woman? What kind of low life garbage piece of you know what are you?

However, the article doesn't state whether or not the woman was deaf or her partner was deaf. Not very clear.

Both of them are deaf.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/2-families-outraged-incident-dog-231115778.html

evank516 wrote:

The dude punched a dog. HE PUNCHED A DOG! Listen, I'm not a dog person by any means, but don't deliberately punch a dog. Come on! And punching a pregnant woman? What kind of low life garbage piece of you know what are you?

However, the article doesn't state whether or not the woman was deaf or her partner was deaf. Not very clear.

Both the woman and her partner were deaf. I think I saw mentioned somewhere that their children (twin girls, whom the puncher pushed to the floor after punching the woman) were deaf as well, but I’m not sure.

I 100% agree with you. There is absolutely no excuse for punching a pregnant woman and her service dog, no matter the circumstances.

evank516 wrote:

The dude punched a dog. HE PUNCHED A DOG! Listen, I'm not a dog person by any means, but don't deliberately punch a dog. Come on! And punching a pregnant woman? What kind of low life garbage piece of you know what are you?

However, the article doesn't state whether or not the woman was deaf or her partner was deaf. Not very clear.

Both the woman and her partner were deaf. I think I saw mentioned somewhere that their children (twin girls, both of whom the puncher pushed to the floor after punching the woman) were deaf as well, but I’m not sure.

I 100% agree with you. There is absolutely no excuse for punching a pregnant woman and her service dog, no matter the circumstances.

F9LASDEN wrote:

evank516 wrote:

The dude punched a dog. HE PUNCHED A DOG! Listen, I'm not a dog person by any means, but don't deliberately punch a dog. Come on! And punching a pregnant woman? What kind of low life garbage piece of you know what are you?

However, the article doesn't state whether or not the woman was deaf or her partner was deaf. Not very clear.

Both the woman and her partner were deaf. I think I saw mentioned somewhere that their children (twin girls, both of whom the puncher pushed to the floor after punching the woman) were deaf as well, but I’m not sure.

I 100% agree with you. There is absolutely no excuse for punching a pregnant woman and her service dog, no matter the circumstances.

Wouldn't think there are EVER circumstances where there is an excuse to punch someone, man, woman (whether pregnant or not), child or dog, unless you are matching force being used against yourself.

N505fx wrote:

Virtual737 wrote:

strfyr51 wrote:

No seat row is so tight that the dog can't lay on the floor at the passenger's feet.

A Great Dane is typically about the same weight as a healthy adult man (~70kg), is almost 3 feet tall and of course quite a bit longer. That dog would take up almost all the floor space of 3 seats. Totally legal or not, losing a good majority of your already sparse space in a plane, when you've paid for a seat just like every other human, would irk the hell out of me.

Absolutely no justification for his actions, but we do seem to create laws that anyone with even an ounce of common sense could see as likely to cause problems. Why even put the guy in the position that his anger management issues come to light?

Maybe this guys should have a service dog to help him handle his anger management.

Also for those that have severe allergies - they are medications and ways to remediate their allergies...for many, especially a the blind and def, service animals are an only alternative and essential for their mobility and well being.

No disagreement from me here. However, the burden of carrying the service animals should fall 100% with the carrier, not their fare paying customers. Is a service dog declared upon booking or only during check-in?