For the blind and deaf/hard of hearing an assistance animal is their link to the "outside" world. I know from firsthand experience that these dogs are trained to handle and assist in the evacuation of their charges during an emergency. They are all trained to do so. Like you said, the "emotional assistance dog" isn't and IMHO (in my humble opinion) would actually impede egress from an aircraft when speedy evacuation is the key to life or death.
But as we are now a "P.C." society we must allow anyone who, in the estimation of their "shrink" with 2 years post-graduate study, can't live without their tea-cup Poodle or Maltese, can't survive the rigors of a three-and-a-half hour flight without constant contact with said animal without becoming a basket case in-flight...OMG we better accommodate this very disturbed person or else we'll be in a lot of trouble.
In Salem persons who said their stability relied on the pets (dogs and cats) they kept were burned at the stake. Maybe they weren't so crazy?
|