Originally Posted by
rog747
yes indeed hindsight is a wonderful thing - but the cabin crew let her down here thats the main issue
and PaxBritannica
no way do you ever put pet dogs in the OH lockers on that flight or any other - no idea why you make such a surmise that if she took another flight she would expect the same - they have to go under your seat
and yes agree any dog much bigger than a small JRT yorkie or a chihuahua is too much to go in a bag in the cabin - so only tiny dogs yes- and it's not uncommon in EU or the states for small dogs in the cabin as I have shown
and as for allergies - oh come on - what do you do in a train pub or a cafe or at a pals - tell the folks with dogs to leave? - what nonsense
so do you cross the road each time if you see a dog coming?
that's taking it all abit far like the onboard bloody peacock -
am very sorry to learn that you have such an extreme allergy of dogs but if you travel on public transport or go out socially then frankly the risk assessment is for you to address surely?
the onus is not on others
I think it's reasonable for the passenger to assume that the FA's request was company policy. Why wouldn't she think that another flight with the same airline would meet with the same treatment? She couldn't know that the FA was in fact contravening company rules.
Regarding your second point: it is indeed my responsibility to manage my allergy risk, but I'm curious to know what you think I can do to manage it? Antihistamine can only do so much. I'm careful not to touch dogs I encounter (much as I love dogs), I keep my distance in public encounters, I avoid anything that's been licked or whatever by a dog, and I DO leave situations where I'm beginning to wheeze. I can't do that in the constraints of a flight, if I'm seated next to a dog, if a dog is wandering around the cabin, or if the dog has potentially been sneezing on my hand-luggage.
My allergy is not rare or bizarre - many people have animal allergies, just as many people have nut allergies. I researched to find that ~6% of the UK has a food allergy (higher in children), and ~8% have dog allergies (18% have cat allergies). My question was, if airlines can refuse to serve nut-based snacks anywhere in the cabin because a single person on the flight has a nut allergy, why would an animal allergy not be respected to the same degree?
"The onus is not on others"? In most situations, I agree, but not in the peculiar circumstances of a flight. A train can at least stop at a station and shovel me onto an ambulance. It seems to me that the burden of discomfort should be on the person who wants to travel with an animal - which is an optional activity that can be managed in other ways. My very common allergy is not optional.