Pets don't belong on airplanes

Just to be clear, I am a pet lover. Reading about all the confusion regarding dogs on various airplanes lately, I am thinking that all airlines should really ban all kinds of pets on their boards.

Here are the reasons: trauma to pets; allergy, so many people are allergic to animals often to cats and dogs; fragility, regular people are often sick after long and exhausting flights, not to say about pets; and nuisance to passengers and crew members.

I was a witness at one of the international airports in Europe, where a passenger from the U.S. had a rather large dog on a long leash where the dog was wandering among waiting passengers all the time. People whispered, but said nothing. When I said something, a very rude owner jumped on me accusing me of being cruel to animals. Pathetic.

Many people under the false premise that they must have a service dog are sneaking dogs to the cabin and such people and their pets are an extreme nuisance to passengers and crew members.

People could ship them on boats or even better leave them at home. We leave children, husbands, wives, sick parents at home when we go away from home for a while. Why would we not leave our pets?

Pets are friends, but they should not be more important than humans. If we reached to that point, it would mean we would not deserve to think about ourselves as the prime species on the Earth. Dogs would be, or other pets for this matter. Be civilized and let other passengers around you fly comfortably. The flight itself is stressful enough, please do not add more stress to it.

Leave your pets at home. They will be healthier and less stressed out.

Liz Szymanski

Elgin