“Karen, Of Course, Screeches For A Supervisor”: Karen's Fake Allergy To Service Dog Backfires As The Airline Upgrades The Owner To First Class

Air travel can already be discomforting enough, with the hassle of baggage, airports, and stuffy airplanes. It’s no wonder that many fliers choose first-class to somewhat ease the experience and get some semblance of glamour that can be missing from most commercial air travel.

An internet user shared a story about a ‘Karen,’ seated in first class, who got what she asked for, just not in the way she expected. She was traveling with a service dog, who was calmly sitting under the seat. Only after he came out to drink, did Karen suddenly develop an allergy. After throwing a tantrum, the flight crew decided to maliciously comply with her demands and put some space between Karen and the dog.

‘Karen’s’ insistence that she was allergic holds very little water seeing as an allergic reaction to dogs comes from their fur (also urine and saliva, but that seems particularly unlikely) so her developing some symptoms upon seeing the service animal is pretty laughable. But to play the Devil's advocate let’s assume she does have some sort of allergy that causes her to cough. Now, I have been sick before and even injured, but I never needed a service animal. These are reserved for people who truly need their help. So despite ‘Karen’s’ coughing, any person with an ounce of empathy would still understand that a bit of coughing is not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

We reached out to ineedatinylama and she was gracious enough to answer some of our questions. We wanted to know in general, what people should keep in mind when encountering a service animal. “Service dogs should be treated like a piece of equipment, such as a cane. If you wouldn't give prolonged eye contact, smile/whistle/make kissing noises/talk to/touch/pet, or discuss someone's cane you do not do this to a Service dog. A service dog is working, it needs to have all its attention on its partner. It looks for queues from its human so it can alert balance/ low or high blood sugar/seizures/ dropped items/the need to pull a wheelchair/ hearing situations etc. Simple questions comments etc to the human are ok, but remember; we have places to go, and things to do. I don't have time in my day to have 20-minute conversations with everyone who has questions or admires my partner.”

We also wanted to know they she had encountered other people who somehow felt they were entitled to tell her where her service dog could and couldn’t be. “People use their children as reasons I can't be on a plane/bus/train with them. My dog may "Go crazy and bite my child!" More than likely your child is going to be more of a danger or disturbance than my dog would even "think" about being. Other issues have happened with people who are afraid of dogs. A TSA agent refused to let me through her gate because of her fears of my dog. I had to wait 20 minutes for a supervisor to come to take over the area and allow me through on a trip to San Francisco."

“People trying to pass off their pet as a trained service dog is the number one most dangerous thing for me. I've had these untrained dogs lunge, attempt to attack, or bite and bark aggressively at my service dog. The safety of me and my dog is jeopardized daily by these untrained dogs. I am glad to report most States in the USA have laws now that give heavy fines, penalties, or jail time to people trying to pass off pets as service dogs. Finally, service dogs from organizations cost upwards of $45,000 + to be bred, fed, housed, and trained to be matched specifically to their human partner. Training starts at 8 weeks and a service dog isn't placed with a partner until it is about 2 years old. The wait time for a service dog is generally 3-5 years. Out of a litter of pups, MAYBE 2 go on the be working partners. Lastly, without my service dog, I could not shop or walk around in. public on my own. I could not live alone and feel safe. My dog is vital to my life."