Lately I've taken many deep Google dives trying to figure out how I can get my Vizsla to the west coast on a plane without throwing her under the plane (I can't imagine anyone would do this unless they absolutely had to), and I've come up with an idea I think government officials like Pete Buttigieg should be seriously considering. To me the idea has no or minimal holes but I'm sure, since I've never met an unintelligent Vizsla owner, you guys will be able to poke some where there needs work. The idea has been born out of the assumption that most if not all airlines require either the dog to be a "service dog" or small enough to fit in a crate - which, unless it's a puppy, eliminates virtually every Vizsla owner anywhere in the world.
So here it is...
Every airline should hire/acquire a "dog approver" - they would be government issued, so it wouldn't cost anything for the airline - whose sole job it is to take appointments from owners who want to fly alongside their medium-sized/larger dog in the cabin. The position would be in an office in every major city, and you'd visit them with your dog, they'd spend an hour or so observing its behavior, and if they are comfortable saying that the dog is well or reasonably behaved and isn't a danger to anyone, they give you a stamp, some kind of approval that when you book a flight you will be able to prove your dog was approved and have no issues bringing them on the plane.
Every airline would designate the last 5 rows or so to accommodate passengers with dogs. If a flight doesn't have enough passengers/dogs to fill the 5 rows, a non-dog passenger can book a seat as long as they check a box that says something like, "I'm okay being near crate-less dogs."
Fact: There are currently 80 to 100 million dog owners in the US. Fixing this problem is long overdue.
If I can polish this enough I will write up a formal proposal and, I don't know, take it to congress or something. Let me know what you think.
So here it is...
Every airline should hire/acquire a "dog approver" - they would be government issued, so it wouldn't cost anything for the airline - whose sole job it is to take appointments from owners who want to fly alongside their medium-sized/larger dog in the cabin. The position would be in an office in every major city, and you'd visit them with your dog, they'd spend an hour or so observing its behavior, and if they are comfortable saying that the dog is well or reasonably behaved and isn't a danger to anyone, they give you a stamp, some kind of approval that when you book a flight you will be able to prove your dog was approved and have no issues bringing them on the plane.
Every airline would designate the last 5 rows or so to accommodate passengers with dogs. If a flight doesn't have enough passengers/dogs to fill the 5 rows, a non-dog passenger can book a seat as long as they check a box that says something like, "I'm okay being near crate-less dogs."
Fact: There are currently 80 to 100 million dog owners in the US. Fixing this problem is long overdue.
If I can polish this enough I will write up a formal proposal and, I don't know, take it to congress or something. Let me know what you think.
