Let's get some things straight.
1. The crew requested/ordered the dog to be under the seat.
2. The crew didn't come up with this, its in the FLIGHT OPS MANUAL approved by the FAA for this airline and is about the same for all other US airlines.
3. The passenger did not comply. The crew could easily consider this person to be interfering with the duties of the crew, which is contrary to the regulations.
4. If you have a seeing eye dog, it goes under your seat, them's the rules...not just for this guy, but all passengers in need of a seeing eye dog.
The flight was cancelled and the buses were brought in, that's why all the passengers got off.
While some passengers expressed outrage, it is simply because they were ignorant of the facts and the flight ops manual.
Had I been there, i might have taken the manual back and shown it to the concerned fellow passengers, and I would have asked them to read it to the blind man as it is not in braile or on audio books.
There are reasons for everything we do as flight crew and most people simply don't understand.
I'm with the crew on this one.
And if anyone thinks it is unfair...fine, petition the FAA to change the rules...but until then, dog under chair, comprende?