If you can't take your emotional support pig, what's the point in going?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/proof-pigs-fly/story?id=27222136


Here's Proof Pigs Actually Do Fly (Almost)

Nov 27, 2014, 6:43 PM ET
By RHEANA MURRAY
Rheana Murray More from Rheana »

via Good Morning America

They say pigs don't fly, but this one came close.

A pig landed on a US Airways flight out of Connecticut on Wednesday, but was taken off the plane after it became disruptive, a spokesperson told ABC News.

Jonathan Skolnik, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a passenger on the flight, told ABC News today he thought the woman with the pig was carrying a duffel bag when she got on the plane and headed straight for the empty seat next to him.

"But it turns out it wasn't a duffel bag. We could smell it and it was a pig on a leash," he said. "She tethered it to the arm rest next to me and started to deal with her stuff, but the pig was walking back and forth."

"I was terrified, because I was thinking I'm gonna be on the plane with the pig," Snolnik added, saying he guesses the pig weighed between 50 and 70 pounds.

But the flight didn't take off with the pig. The woman and the animal eventually deplaned.

American Airlines, the parent company of US Airways, confirmed to ABC News that a passenger brought the pig aboard as an emotional support animal. After the pig became disruptive, she was asked to leave, a spokesperson said.

Terrified might be a bit of a stretch but I wouldn't want to fly next to a pig either.

Yep. I suppose if it's an unobtrusive animal maybe the argument could be made it isn't someone else's business. But in this case, it's a freaking pig. If they aren't serving it for the meal it's got no business in the passenger compartment.

I wasn't saying I'd want to fly with a pig in my lap.  I was suggesting that the Professor is and/or was a big weenis for being terrified of said pig.

Well, true...  He needs to seriously man up if anything that lacks the capacity to kill him is 'terrifying.'



Kaso

If I can't bring my emotional support hog, I'm not going. I'm sorry, I thought this was America.

Legally, if it's an official support animal, they can't refuse her, but probably would arrange for more space.

If she needs emotional support from a pig, she needs to get ahold of herself.  Her mental condition is her own business, but when a pig comes onto my flight, it rapidly becomes mine.  Further, did she buy a seat for the animal, or did she plan to hold it the whole time?  I know how big pot bellies get, and it is not exactly lap size.

Pigs raised for pets don't need to be smelly, and I've heard of dogs being allowed in the passenger area.

Yet the other passenger indicated that this one was.  I can see the need for a seeing dog in some circumstances, but special consideration needs to be given so that the animal has room to lie down without inconveniencing other passengers.  Beyond that, no animals should be allowed in the passenger area.  Ever.  Just too many things that could potentially go wrong and cause the animal to snap.  Unlike a bus or train, there is no way to just stop and let it off. 

Picture for a moment, a pig running and squealing around the seats at 30,000 feet.  Sounds fun, huh?



Kaso

Pigs raised for pets don't need to be smelly, and I've heard of dogs being allowed in the passenger area.

Other than seeing eye dogs or specially trained service animals (for example, I know a guy in a wheelchair with muscular dystrophy that has a helper dog), dogs shouldn't be in there either.   Most of these "support" animals are not there to help with any real disability. They are there so narcissistic douchebags can carry their yappy little dogs in their laps.    If you want to take your dog on the trip,  you should drive.