7A: Testing My Hypothesis

1) Opportunity: Airline regulations on service animals

2) Airlines in the United States struggle to realize if a person is in need of having a service animal with them at all times in relation to that person's disability, emotional stability, or psychiatric reason.

3) Testing

• Testing the who: There are others with this need. Service animals are supposed to be trained to be taken anywhere and everywhere. Therefore, any public place may have this related hypothesis. Another common one may be restaurants because other customers in the restaurant could be uncomfortable with having an animal near them when they are eating. 
• Testing the what: The challenge with this situation is that some people question the use of service animals because of the tendency for people to 'pretend' to have a disability in order to have their animal with them. It is a problem of assessing if the service animal is completely necessary or if people are attempting to cheat the system because they did not want to leave their animal at home. On the other hand, many people truly need a service animal for their own safety and it is unfair to them that they have to be questioned because of other people taking advantage of the ability to train any dog to be service.
• Testing the why: There is a vast range of whys because of the multiple reasons why someone may have/need a service animal. Airline employees are not necessarily well versed in understanding the needs of those with service animals, therefore how can they properly assess if a specific person should be allowed to bring their service animal with them on a flight or not. Some blame the person for not having trained his/her dog correctly. Others may harass the person for not having a necessary reason that leads to a need for a service animal. In reality, on may not want to express his/her reason for having a service animal because it may be personal or embarrassing to explain. The airlines are in a struggle to decide what is or isn't acceptable, along with the proper way to go about addressing the situation.

4)

• Interview 1: This person is a pilot for American Airlines whom I know through a friend. He claims to see this issue on a daily basis. He expressed his opinion in the situation from a standpoint where he has two dogs at home. While they are not service animals, they are his pets that he cares for and has grown a great connection to. He does not see an issue with service animals on flights as long as the enough training to keep from disrupting those around. Once the animal shows any form of obvious disruption to the environment or people around then he sees a problem in the situation where the owner may not necessarily need that animal for service.
• Interview 2: This person is a flight attendant whom I know through my mother. She has been a flight attendant for 12 years and commonly sees service animals on her flights. Her opinion was very close in line to that of the first interview I conducted. She does not agree with those who have a dog that is unruly and does not seem to be trained enough to provide a service to the owner. She said that in order for an animal to be of service they should be calm and orderly or else they may not be of any assistance to the person.
• Interview 3: This is a person I spoke to at Starbucks because he had a suitcase with him so assumed he was traveling. He was getting ready to head to Palm Beach International Airport for a flight to New York. He was a business man who travels one to two times a month and he said he has seen service animals at the airport, but has never been bothered by one. He said that the only reason why he would have a problem with someone having a service animal would be if they were "going to the bathroom" inside the airport or if they were being aggressive or noisy. When I asked how he felt about those he may have a service animal without a true reason he claimed it does not bother him as long as they are not disrupting the airport or the people in the airport/airplane.
• Interview 4: This is a friend of mine that has two service dogs for psychiatric reasons. She has flown with both of her service dog before and recalls receiving a lot of negative attention and questions because of it. She went on to explain that she has been diagnosed by a doctor and has a real reason to have service animals people still sometimes do not believe what she explains. Her dogs have both been to intense training camps specifically for service animals and they act as a service animal should in public places. She agrees with the airlines need to regulate because she said she has seen service animals that are not well trained and disrupt the environment. With her personal experience she said that if her dogs where not trained that they would actually hurt her abilities rather than provide any service.
• Interview 5: I spoke to a random person in the mall so I could get an unbiased opinion about the situation. He said he does not fly very often and he has never seen a service animal when he has been at an airport. He said if he did have to be around a service animal at the airport he would have no problem with it as long as it was well behaved. He did not have much opinion on the situation because he does not own any animals and he rarely sees services animals. Although, he said he had an experience in a restaurant where another customer had a service animal that was very unruly and it made is time at the restaurant unpleasant. He said the animal was whining and moving around non-stop. It was making him uncomfortable. He said if there was an animal like that on a plane with him he would not be satisfied with the airline for allowing the animal on the plane.

5) I found that most everyone was on the same page with service animals on airlines. Some where more passionate about the situation compared to other because of their experiences or owning animals of their own. I think this opportunity has been over exaggerated in some ways. After talking to multiple different people with differing opinions I see the need for regulations. I believe they can be simplified to a few basic rules instead of putting the responsibility completely on the airline employees to have to assess each person that is walking on a plane with a service animal. It should be more clear cut and less up to opinions.