Josh Rivera, an Iraq war veteran who has served our country overseas, reports that American Airlines wouldn’t allow him to fly with his service dog Brady on the airplane, even though Rivera had called and checked with the airline a week before the date of air travel to make sure he had what he needed.
Rivera arrived at Tampa International Airport with his service dog Brady, a black lab who had recently graduated from Southeastern Guide Dogs. It was Rivera’s first public experience traveling with his service animal.
“At the gate I checked in, and notified them that I had a service animal with me, and they said there are no problems,” Rivera said.
However, the situation quickly changed.
“They called me five or ten minutes later back to the counter and they told me I wouldn’t be able to get on the aircraft because they believed I had an emotional support animal, and that they weren’t allowed to fly on the plane,” said Rivera.
An American Airlines spokesperson said this to a news reporter by phone: “Department of Transportation requires any passenger to advise the airline ahead of time and provide proper documentation for the service animal … Emotional support dog is not considered a service dog. It requires a different type of documentation.”
There are different requirements for service animals versus emotional support animals, although both types of assistance animals are entitled to travel with their disabled owners. For service animals, only the disabled owner’s credible statement that the animal is a service animal and mention of what the animal is trained to do are required. For an emotional support animal, there is an additional requirement: The documentation required for an emotional support animal includes a note from a doctor dated within 12 months prior to travel.
The dispute between Rivera and AA arose due to a disagreement over which type of assistance animal Brady is. Rivera disputes that Brady is an emotional support dog, and asserts that Brady is a service animal. Rivera says he tried to explain that to American Airlines supervisor Mike Stafford, but to no avail.
“He wasn’t listening,” says Rivera. “He wouldn’t have it. He said that the animal wouldn’t be able to get on the plane with me, and I was prevented from boarding the plane.”
AA wouldn’t budge. But Rivera was able to fly home after all, just on a different airline, Southwest Airlines.
The “Travel Industry” Truly needs to start to recognize that “WE the emotional troubled DO NEED our animals WITH US!” These animals offer us the SAME support that others like the Blind, Deaf or otherwise medical necessary who have these same type of trained service animals NEED our service animals JUST LIKE THEY DO!!! We and the animals have a BOND that can be “FULLY demonstrated using animal behavior models, AND WE TO ARE ANIMALS!!!”