Emotional-support pets on airplanes. A good or bad idea?

From the Pettravel.com website:

Emotional support animals are used in Animal Assisted Therapy to improve the physical, social, emotional and cognitive condition of the patient. Most emotional support animals are dogs and cats, however this therapy can also include parrots, horses, elephants, lizards, and monkeys. The DOT is currently considering the addition of pigs to the list. These pet animals are now recognized as providing a valuable service to the elderly and to others with a medical disability and have recently reached the status of Service Animals.

A "cognitive" condition means "thinking" condition. The DOT = The U.S. Department of Transportation

Basically, if I understand this correctly, people who do not like to fly and who feel anxious (worried, stressed, nervous) while flying are allowed to bring these emotional support animals onto an airplane for free. The animals make them feel more comfortable.

However, I really do not like little pets, especially those crazy little designer dogs that some people have to make them seem richer than other people...those dogs that cannot stop barking: yip yip yip yip yip! OMG!

So if someone brings one of these crazy little dogs on an airplane to make him/her feel less stress, it is going to add to my stress! Also, as you can see from the quote above, and from the article linked below, people try to bring weird (strange) pets onto airplanes. Some people try to bring snakes and spiders. Do you want to sit next to a giant hairy spider for 13 hours?

All of my students seem to think this is a terrible idea and many airlines are beginning to take measures to end this practice. Everyone seems to agree that REAL "service" animals (for people who cannot see, for example) are fine. Bring a spider on an airplane to feel safer, well, not too many people would agree with that.

What do you think? One of my students suggested that there are other ways to make people feel more comfortable on planes. Free soothing music, free movies, herbal tea - there are many other things than a big hairy spider that can make a person feel safe. How do you think this whole situation got started?

The article:

http://www.businessinsider.com/emotional-support-animals-big-problem-airlines-want-to-stop-them-2018-6

Vocabulary:

emotional support - this means when someone gets some help in regard to dealing with a painful emotion or emotions. If a friend of yours is depressed, you might try to provide emotional support by taking him/her out, making the person laugh or just by being there to listen to your friend.

vague rules - not clear rules, not well-defined rules

to cheat the system - to get around/avoid the system's rules unfairly or in a deceitful or sneaky way

to the detriment of - to the harm of; detriment is the opposite of benefit

to tighten its definition - to make its definition more exact, more precise

to exclude - to eliminate

a trade group - a organization that represents a number of companies in one industry

unscrupulous - lacking morals, not having ethics, an unscrupulous person does not care about what is right or wrong (pronounced: un SCREW pyul us)

fraudulent documentation - fraudulent means fake or not real, if a person commits an act of fraud, he makes money illegally; so fraudulent documentation means fake documents to get these animals on airplanes (I am not sure whether this is a crime - it probably should be.)

posing as - to pose as someone or something means to pretend to be someone or something

to be mauled - to be bitten badly by an animal

defecating pigs - pigs pooping on the airplane (how's that for your emotional support - fly 7 hours with pig poop)

to weed out the impostors -  an impostor is a faker or someone who is pretending to be something he/she is not. To weed someone or something out means to eliminate someone or something. Let's say you are hiring 5 people for a job and 30 people apply. You have to weed out 25 people - like pulling weeds to support the flowers. So the Department of Transportation is allowing airlines the right to refuse emotional support animals access to airplanes.

to codify regulations - to put these regulations in writing and to make sure the regulations are followed everywhere in the country

giving airlines discretion - giving airlines the ability to make their own choices based on their own judgment