US woman blocked from flight for bringing emotional support dog

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A woman in Florida, USA, was blocked by gate agents from her flight for bringing her emotional-support dog to fly with her.

Stacy Christopoulos is a frequent flyer and usually brings her dog, named Spikey, whenever she would travel, as per Fox 13 on Dec. 20 (Dec. 19 in the US). However, they were turned away by gate agents when they were about to board their Allegiant Air flight at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport last week.

“The lady asked for my documents and I showed her the documents that I always do carry and she said, ‘These are not the correct documents,’” Christopoulos said in the report. “I did not get on a plane and it’s the first time in many years, with documents, that we did not get on.”

Christopoulos brought with her letters from her doctor and Spikey’s veterinarian, documents that apparently did not meet the airline’s requirements.

The incident was noticed by one passenger, lawyer Herb Hoffman, who tried to aid Christopoulos in her dilemma. According to the report, Hoffman tried to ask one of the gate agents a question, only to be told that the dog was “a threat to our safety.”

Christopoulos has since advised other passengers to ask airlines what documentation they require if ever they will be traveling with an animal, and called the experience “highly upsetting.”

Meanwhile, Tampa International Airport spokesperson Christine Osborn addressed the incident in a similar vein.

“This is one of those cases where you want to check with your airline every time you travel because that policy may have been updated by the airline and it varies between air carriers,” said Osborn in the report.

Emotional-support dogs are just one kind of the legal categories of assistance animals, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. The use of emotional-support animal apparently must be supported by a qualified physical or mental health profession based on a disability-related need. But unlike service animals that are trained to perform tasks for persons with disabilities, the association said emotional-support animals are not required to be trained to perform any particular tasks and do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Cody Cepeda /ra

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