An ‘emotional-support dog’ attacked him on a flight. He’s suing Delta and the owner.

[LoveNDino]

An ‘emotional-support dog’ attacked him on a flight. He’s suing Delta and the owner.

 

An attack on a plane by a fellow passenger’s emotional-support dog left Marlin Jackson needing 28 stitches, according to a negligence lawsuit filed Friday against Delta Air Lines and the dog’s owner. In the suit, Jackson claims he bled so badly that a row of seats later had to be removed from the plane.

 

Jackson had just taken his window seat in the 31st row for a June 2017 flight from Atlanta to San Diego when the dog, sitting on the lap of the passenger next to him, lunged for his face, pinning him against the window of the plane so he couldn’t escape, the lawsuit alleges.

 

The complaint filed in Fulton County state court in Georgia alleges that Delta “took no action to verify or document the behavioral training of the large animal.” It also alleges that the dog owner, Ronald K. Mundy Jr., a Marine, “knew or … should have known that his large animal was foreseeably dangerous.”

 

The alleged attack is one of numerous reports in the past few years of emotional-support animals causing trouble for airline passengers, incidents that have pushed airlines to crack down on which animals they allow on planes.

 

In the months following the attack, Delta tightened rules around emotional-support and service animals. The airline requiredpassengers beginning in March 2018 to provide “confirmation of animal training,” proof of the animal’s immunization records as well as a letter from a doctor or licensed mental health professional regarding the request for the support animal.

 

When Delta announced the change, it cited an 84 percent spike in reported animal incidents since 2016 “including urination/defecation, biting” and the incident involving Jackson.

 

Jackson’s attorney, J. Ross Massey of Alexander Shunnarah & Associates, called the policy changes a “step in the right direction.” “But of course changing the rule after the fact doesn’t excuse that there are rules you didn’t follow beforehand,” he added.

 

The complaint alleges that despite an existing policy to require larger animals to be secured on the floor, the dog remained on his owner’s lap.

 

Delta said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but in a statement said it “continuously reviews and enhances its policies and procedures for animals onboard as part of its commitment to health, safety and protecting the rights of customers with disabilities.” The company pointed to its 2018 policy updates that “reinforce Delta’s core value of putting safety first, always.”

 

The lawsuit calls for a jury trial, and an unspecified amount in damages for pain and suffering, lost wages and medical expenses. But Massey said he hopes the lawsuit will also push Delta to enforce its policies so passengers can be assured animals on flights are safe or safely secured.

 

Before he took his seat, Jackson asked Mundy if the reportedly 50-pound dog — a “chocolate lab-pointer mix,” according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution — would bite, and the dog owner said Jackson would be safe.

 

“While Mr. Jackson was securing his seatbelt, the animal began to growl at Mr. Jackson and shift in Defendant Mundy’s lap,” the lawsuit reads. “Suddenly, the animal attacked Mr. Jackson’s face, biting Mr. Jackson several times. … The attack was briefly interrupted when the animal was pulled away from Mr. Jackson. However, the animal broke free and again mauled Mr. Jackson’s face.”

 

Massey said teeth punctured through Jackson’s gum, above his lip and beneath his nose. He has suffered permanent scarring, the complaint says, and his attorney said he still experiences numbness in the area, and has intermittent speech issues.

 

 

Before Delta makes further policy updates, Massey also called for training airline employees to enforce existing rules.

 

“I’m convinced that training would prevent this potential harm for somebody else,” he said.

[+ sync]

I wonder if the pointer-mix is a factor or if this particular dog was trained to be aggressive. Every chocolate lab I have encountered has been disarmingly affectionate.

[SirBillybob]

I think everyone should get and accept that public aircraft are now playgrounds with off-leash privileges.

[+ azdr0710]

[Guest]

That's a serious injury. I hope the lawsuits put the dog owner, Ronald K. Mundy, Jr., in financial jeopardy, causes Delta to get serious about vetting these phony "emotional support" animals, and, most importantly, that the dog gets euthanized as a menace. This is a foreseeable situation, especially in the close quarters of an airline cabin.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4575742/Veteran-s-emotional-support-dog-bites-Delta-passenger.html

 

An unnamed witness told Fox 5 that Mundy was seen in the gate area cradling the dog in his arms, crying, and repeatedly saying, 'I know they're going to put him down.'

Edited May 30, 2019 by Unicorn

[+ WilliamM]

I was bitten by a German Shepherd as a child, but not anywhere near as bad as the passenger. Still, I wouldn't have wanted that German Shepherd, or any dog, nearly for the rest of the flight. By nearby I mean anywhere near my seat.

Edited May 30, 2019 by WilliamM

[+ Keith30309]

Domesticated and Trained don’t mean “able to reason”.

 

The animal was put into a situation in which a) it felt endangered, and/or, 2) prior training had conditioned it to respond aggressively to certain stimuli.

 

A cramped plane cabin with lots of people getting very close, strange noises and smells would put any animal on edge unless it had been highly trained to deal with those situations. Think New Orleans PD horses in a Marti Gras crowd.

 

I’m at an airport right now and just saw a very cute beagle walk by. If I smushed it with a heavy rolling bag I’m pretty sure it would not respond well.

 

Either way euthanizing an animal like this is the wrong response. The owner, on the other hand, should be held fully accountable for the behavior of the animal.

[Kyle Clinton]

I'm a proud and responsible dog (2 of them) owner and I've flown with both. They are small and fit under the seat in a pet carrier. It's costly to fly nowadays with pets. I remember when it was $25 per one-way and now $100 and more depending on the airline. Pet owners taking advantage and abusing laws angers me to no end. Events like this will begin to ruin the TRUE/LEGITIMATE medical need some people have for their companions. I'm not one of them and would never take advantage of the "loopholes" many pet owners abuse in the laws. That being said, maybe it's time for changes and maybe pets like this will need to be required to wear muzzles in order to accompany their owners if not in a carrier and under the seat.

[+ purplekow]

Airlines have done very little to see to the safety of animals that travel in the cargo hold. More than 100 pets a year die in the cargo hold because of hypothermia. Hundreds more are lost each year. One or two heated areas for pets could prevent this and perhaps people would not feel afraid to have their pets travel as cargo.

As to this situation, while the bite is a nasty one, and no one deserves to be bit by a dog on a plane, before the dog is euthanized shouldn't there be an investigation and a trial. If the passenger is suing, it is likely the dog will not be euthanized until after the trial if at all.

[+ nycman]

The whole thing is a sham.

 

Pets should not be allowed on planes or buses.

 

Leave your animal at home, drive, or put them in the cargo hold.

 

Your choice. Can’t fly without them?....don’t fly. Period.

 

I love animals (pretty much more than humans), but this has gotten ridiculous.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Unless it's a trained, papered service dog (blind, deaf, true physical disability), no animal needs to be out of a carrier on a commercial airliner.

 

I can only hope that DL has to cough up a gigantic sum of damages on this, causing them to nut up and pass some actual regulations on these so-called 'emotional support' animals.

 

Can’t fly without them?....don’t fly. Period

 

Agreed. Take a Xanax and have a glass of pinot grigio like the rest of us.

[mike carey]

Unless it's a trained, papered service dog (blind, deaf, true physical disability), no animal needs to be out of a carrier on a commercial airliner.

 

I can only hope that DL has to cough up a gigantic sum of damages on this, causing them to nut up and pass some actual regulations on these so-called 'emotional support' animals.

 

 

 

Agreed. Take a Xanax and have a glass of pinot grigio like the rest of us.

What? No Krug?

[amused1]

The abusive use of the support animal label is out of control. I've dealt with it too many times to count. When I ask the legally allowed follow up questions of the owners I generally get 2 responses:

A meaningful answer (generally from legit service animal owners).

 

A declaration that I'm not allowed to ask (generally from fakers).

 

Legit owners are pretty aware of the laws and statutes and simply comply. Fakers make a production of the interaction, possibly to get the additional attention they seem to crave.

 

Just my experience.

[+ HarryReems4U]

Shortly after I turned 11, I started taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I got my black belt about 16 months later.

 

My father and uncle owned a small construction company, and one summer when I was about 14, they happened to be doing some work for a little old lady who happened to be the grandmother of one of my best friends in junior high. She had a big dog chained in her front yard.

 

So as I was walking up to this house for the very first time, the dog suddenly growled and lunged at me.

 

After several years of karate, all the moves had basically become reflexive; so I didn't mean to, but I kicked the dog in the head.

 

After that I never had a problem with the dog. Apparently, he knew who was boss and was very friendly to me after that.

 

It was like one of those Looney Tunes cartoons where the menacing bull dog turned into, "You're my best friend, aren't you, Pee Wee? Huh? Ain't cha, Pee Wee? Ain't cha my best friend? We're best buddies!"

 

Anyway, I think if a big dog attacked me like on the plane, if I had the opportunity, I'd kill it right then and there. These people need to start managing their pets.

 

And for that matter, they need to start managing their children as well. Once when I was at the library, a bunch of children were running around unsupervised. I told the librarian, "This might be the WalMart parking lot?"

 

She found it amusing, and maybe I am being a little paranoid, but I don't know if letting children run around like that is another sign of letting heterosexuals and parental units not have to take responsibility for what they don't want to, simply because they are in the majority, to hell with anyone else's needs.

[+ sync]

Shortly after I turned 11, I started taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I got my black belt about 16 months later.

 

My father and uncle owned a small construction company, and one summer when I was about 14, they happened to be doing some work for a little old lady who happened to be the grandmother of one of my best friends in junior high. She had a big dog chained in her front yard.

 

So as I was walking up to this house for the very first time, the dog suddenly growled and lunged at me.

 

After several years of karate, all the moves had basically become reflexive; so I didn't mean to, but I kicked the dog in the head.

 

After that I never had a problem with the dog. Apparently, he knew who was boss and was very friendly to me after that.

 

It was like one of those Looney Tunes cartoons where the menacing bull dog turned into, "You're my best friend, aren't you, Pee Wee? Huh? Ain't cha, Pee Wee? Ain't cha my best friend? We're best buddies!"

 

Anyway, I think if a big dog attacked me like on the plane, if I had the opportunity, I'd kill it right then and there. These people need to start managing their pets.

 

And for that matter, they need to start managing their children as well. Once when I was at the library, a bunch of children were running around unsupervised. I told the librarian, "This might be the WalMart parking lot?"

 

She found it amusing, and maybe I am being a little paranoid, but I don't know if letting children run around like that is another sign of letting heterosexuals and parental units not have to take responsibility for what they don't want to, simply because they are in the majority, to hell with anyone else's needs.

 

I so agree with you about people managing their children. In addition to behavior issues, so many times I see a parent(s) walking along streets while their child/children are straggling behind. I so want to tell them to use some common sense and make their child/children walk ahead of them so they would be able to see any potentially dangerous activities (running into traffic, wandering away, picking up something filthy from the ground, or worse).

[Boink]

If every airline could stop shrinking seat space, that would help, too.

[marylander1940]

An ‘emotional-support dog’ attacked him on a flight. He’s suing Delta and the owner.

 

An attack on a plane by a fellow passenger’s emotional-support dog left Marlin Jackson needing 28 stitches, according to a negligence lawsuit filed Friday against Delta Air Lines and the dog’s owner. In the suit, Jackson claims he bled so badly that a row of seats later had to be removed from the plane.

 

Jackson had just taken his window seat in the 31st row for a June 2017 flight from Atlanta to San Diego when the dog, sitting on the lap of the passenger next to him, lunged for his face, pinning him against the window of the plane so he couldn’t escape, the lawsuit alleges.

 

The complaint filed in Fulton County state court in Georgia alleges that Delta “took no action to verify or document the behavioral training of the large animal.” It also alleges that the dog owner, Ronald K. Mundy Jr., a Marine, “knew or … should have known that his large animal was foreseeably dangerous.”

 

The alleged attack is one of numerous reports in the past few years of emotional-support animals causing trouble for airline passengers, incidents that have pushed airlines to crack down on which animals they allow on planes.

 

In the months following the attack, Delta tightened rules around emotional-support and service animals. The airline requiredpassengers beginning in March 2018 to provide “confirmation of animal training,” proof of the animal’s immunization records as well as a letter from a doctor or licensed mental health professional regarding the request for the support animal.

 

When Delta announced the change, it cited an 84 percent spike in reported animal incidents since 2016 “including urination/defecation, biting” and the incident involving Jackson.

 

Jackson’s attorney, J. Ross Massey of Alexander Shunnarah & Associates, called the policy changes a “step in the right direction.” “But of course changing the rule after the fact doesn’t excuse that there are rules you didn’t follow beforehand,” he added.

 

The complaint alleges that despite an existing policy to require larger animals to be secured on the floor, the dog remained on his owner’s lap.

 

Delta said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but in a statement said it “continuously reviews and enhances its policies and procedures for animals onboard as part of its commitment to health, safety and protecting the rights of customers with disabilities.” The company pointed to its 2018 policy updates that “reinforce Delta’s core value of putting safety first, always.”

 

The lawsuit calls for a jury trial, and an unspecified amount in damages for pain and suffering, lost wages and medical expenses. But Massey said he hopes the lawsuit will also push Delta to enforce its policies so passengers can be assured animals on flights are safe or safely secured.

 

Before he took his seat, Jackson asked Mundy if the reportedly 50-pound dog — a “chocolate lab-pointer mix,” according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution — would bite, and the dog owner said Jackson would be safe.

 

“While Mr. Jackson was securing his seatbelt, the animal began to growl at Mr. Jackson and shift in Defendant Mundy’s lap,” the lawsuit reads. “Suddenly, the animal attacked Mr. Jackson’s face, biting Mr. Jackson several times. … The attack was briefly interrupted when the animal was pulled away from Mr. Jackson. However, the animal broke free and again mauled Mr. Jackson’s face.”

 

Massey said teeth punctured through Jackson’s gum, above his lip and beneath his nose. He has suffered permanent scarring, the complaint says, and his attorney said he still experiences numbness in the area, and has intermittent speech issues.

 

 

Before Delta makes further policy updates, Massey also called for training airline employees to enforce existing rules.

 

“I’m convinced that training would prevent this potential harm for somebody else,” he said.

 

The abusive use of the term "emotional support animal" (including peacocks) must end as others already pointed.

 

A large dog on the lap???? Gimme a break if you want your dog to travel with you get a seat for him and place him on the window with you in between the animal and other passengers. A muzzle would be a good suggestion too

 

[+ nycman]

No joke. Just yesterday I was on a plane and the woman in the first row

was told repeatedly and in the most kind manner buy this tiny stewardess,

“Ma’am please...the door on your dog carrier must be closed at all times.”

 

She of course refused....and we sat on the runway.....and sat....and sat.

 

“They’ve never made me close it before”.....and we sat.

 

“My dog gets claustrophobic “.....and we sat.

 

“I have to be able to touch my dog at all times”....and we sat.

 

After about 30 minutes of this shenanigans....she shuts the carrier and we take off.

 

It was the closest thing to an honest to god lynching I have ever seen.

[marylander1940]

Friendlier alternatives?

 

 

[+ Keith30309]

I suppose an emotional support twink on my lap is out of the question

[+ Topseed]

Last week I was on a plane where’s woman seated near me had TWO “support” dogs...little dust mop varieties that kept leaving her and wandering on their tether.

 

I so badly wanted to dropkick those little fuckers. And her.

 

Yes, I’m a big dog lover. But this has to stop. (It was on American, btw.)

[+ Charlie]

Any dog on a plane that is not in a carrier should be muzzled--it is just common sense.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

If every airline could stop shrinking seat space, that would help, too.

 

I mean, sure, but highly unlikely until the price of jet fuel comes crashing down

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

What? No Krug?

 

You're turning me on with this kinda talk.

 

... Name a vintage. Get me rock hard.

[Boink]

I mean, sure, but highly unlikely until the price of jet fuel comes crashing down

 

Jet fuel prices may come done, but the airlines will NEVER undo all the cost cutting / profit inflating measures they now know they can get away with. That ship has sailed (pardon the pun).