United Airlines Passenger Upset Over Fake “Service” Dog

A United Airlines passenger has expressed indignation over a suspicious and potentially fake “service dog” that was recently spotted in a first class cabin.

Fake Sevice Dog On United Airlines Flight?

In a video posted to Reddit entitled, “There’s no way that’s a real service dog,” a passenger with a “real” service dog admonishes the passenger with a “fake” service dog to “at least buy the dog a seat…”

There’s no way that’s a real service dog.
byu/Certain_Monitor8688 inunitedairlines

But it’s not that simple.

I agree the dog is likely not a real, i.e. trained, service animal. Service animals do not jump up on their humans as this one does…that is not the sort of conduct you would ever see with a genuine service animal. A service dog is strictly trained not to approach other travelers or stand on hind legs.

The problem, of course, is that this is a cute dog and I am sure her owner loves her. She’s also big…far too big to fit in a carrier. That means she cannot be an in-cabin pet, even if the owner paid United’s fee. And United doesn’t take dogs in the cargo hold any longer (except for U.S. military or foreign service personnel traveling on orders), so that effectively excludes you from flying United with your pet…

…unless you lie and say you have a service animal.

I think that happened on my flight from Cabo to Denver last December and was probably going on here.

And here, the dog looked so nervous you have to wonder whether the “emotional support human” was more necessary than the dog…

The service animal scam is alive and well. While I expect many to remind me to “live and let live” I also want to point out that those who fraudulently call their pets “service animals” are selfish and unethical.