In this article, written by David Leonhardt, the issue of pet owners pretending to own service animals when flying on airplanes, is discussed. According to this article it all started when, “a 1986 law forbidding discrimination against handicapped air travelers made sure that physically disabled people could travel with service animals”. However, many non-disabled pet owners took advantage of this law, and began to travel with their untrained dogs, disguised as service animals. This is partly because many airlines do not require proof of medical need, in order for a passenger to fly with a service animal. Therefore, by claiming their family pets as service animals, “people could bring an animal on board without putting it in a carry-on bag
