I wouldn't say that the OP was relating events too far from the truth. As I said up-thread I have seen dogs boarded as "service animals" before that were questionable.
I just flew a few days ago from NY back to PHX and there was a woman on the flight with a small dog for which she had no carrier. There was another pet which was in it's carrier also traveling in first class. Usually Continental limits the first class cabin to one pet but since hers was a "service animal" it trumps that rule. She made it very clear to announce in a loud voice to the FA "I have had the captain review my paperwork and this dog is a legit service animal." She then went on to chat with her seatmates in a voice that could be heard across the aisle that the pooch could detect when she was about to have a seizure and that's why she carried her as a companion. Now this dog looked to me like a ****zou-maltese mix. My family has had both of these breeds and although they are very sweet breeds with wonderful dispositions I don't think they could be smart enough to realize that there was an 8.5 earthquake happining let alone predict a seizure.
So it is my conclusion that the well-dressed woman who could obviously afford the pet fee took the time to go to her physician to claim her little darling as a "service" animal to circumvent the pet fee. I may be wrong but if her claim was true I hoped that the dog wouldn't detect a seizure while we were in the air because it probabaly would have meant landing at some ungodly place like Tulsa, OK.
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