AAFA Addresses Amtrak's New "Pets on Trains" Policy
AAFA Community Services
Advocating for Patients
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Blog Post Comment❤️I personally have a hard time with people bringing their "service animals" into the grocery store. What about public health standards for the rest of us? And I agree, that there should be an area on planes, trains and buses for those of us who need a pet free space. Cat dander, dog fur, dog smells etc. are all an irritant to someone with asthma and allergies. Even after the pets leave their evidence remains long after.
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Blog Post CommentI was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience with Dupixent and Dyshidrotic Eczema? I have had it for almost 2 years now. I have tried everything I know to do, as well as Rx creams from my Dr., and nothing helps...not even a little. The skin on my hands (back, front, sides, all fingers- sides, top, bottom) is so thick and itches so bad all the time. The only way I can relieve the itching is by popping the blisters. I'm about to go insane. I don't know what to do. The subject...
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Blog Post CommentWelcome One Woman. I don't know that it has been approved for dyshidrotic eczema, but it's worth talking to the doctor. Have you figured out any triggers that make it worse?
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Blog Post Comment❤️Ay my kid's school, one of the teachers brings in her dog. I am irate-not a care for anyone there with a pet allergy.
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Blog Post Comment❤️My parents had a dog for a couple years before I was even born. As soon as I was brought home I started to show signs of allergies. Allergic to milk was the first one .By the time I was 3 years I was having asthma flared and had a severe attack that kept me in the hospital for about a week. The only thing that helped me was removing the pet from the home.
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Blog Post Comment@OneWoman What did your doctor have to say about Dupixent?
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Blog Post Comment@Jen would you know I had an appt with her last week, and I completely spaced this med out. I did talk to her about my eczema, and she did prescribe me a steroid cream (again), but, I forgot to ask about Dupixent. Rats! Not sure when I'll be going in to see her again, either...
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Blog Post CommentDo you feel like the steroid cream is helping?
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Blog Post CommentI've heard that said many times. But my parents had a dog for a few years before I was born and that did not keep me from being allergic to animals nor did it prevent me from developing asthma. It wasn't until they removed the pet from the home did my allergies improve and the asthma attacks stopped happening. At the age of 50 I unknlowlingly came in contact with a dog and had a bad asthma attack. Since then my allergies have not calmed down.
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Blog Post CommentI just want to thank the AAFA for their advocacy regarding the pet dander issue. I have allergic asthma and highly allergic to cat, dog, and horse dander. So much so, that my immunologist prescribed me an EpiPen after my allergy test results were revealed. Also, a few years ago, after being exposed in an airplane cabin to a dog that was shaking and being bounced around on someone's lap, I had to stop flying to the East Coast to avoid the dog dander allergen that triggers my asthma.
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Blog Post Comment❤️Wow, I was quite surprised and over joyed to have an advocate for those of us who have allergic asthma triggered by dog and other pet dander. Traveling has become quite difficult the last several years due to the direct contact with allergens that trigger sinus infections and asthma. Thank you so much.
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Blog Post CommentMe too, been unable to fly from the west coast to the east coast since I had a terrible allergy/asthma attack on a plane flight in 2011. The attack was triggered by a dog (dander) in the cabin that was near the on board restroom I has to use.
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Blog Post Comment❤️💯This is why companies of a business for mass people I have said like hotels Uber Lyft Taxi Planes This is example about Uber's (Btw nothing against this guy so don't every want these people to get introubke and Amit not just them it's tooons of people, there needs to be law for boundary about air and containimant air in public spaces aka place of business) These places are not pet stores. This puppy is sooooo cute and sweet but that is why it is ignored But I see and cannot filter my Uber...
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Blog Post CommentYes, Dawn is right. I know it seems easier to claim distance will help but dog dander is sooooo airborne and light and accumulates. I wouldn't be able to go on a plane with a dog on board.
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Blog Post CommentTouching a dog or cat--or even being near a cat outside-- causes my skin to break out in hives and worsens many asthma. There is dander in places I am unaware of, and exposed skin on my chest is typically always irritated. I wish people would stop bringing their dogs into stores, it is very stressful for me as is, but when I have to wait in line with a person with an animal I am highly allergic to... Honestly, I leave the store. And it ius not fair because I need to grocery shop, and it ius...
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Blog Post Comment❤️this has not proven to be true in our home. We had a dog since before my daughter (asthmatic) was born, and when she was tested for many types of airborne allergies, dogs were the ONLY thing that came back red flagged! Shows the research changes all the time in what they tell you. Be careful telling people this info! Could do more harm than good!
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File CommentI hate my dependence on drugs too, though I've found that foods seem to affect my sinus allergy symptoms the most (even more than my allergens -- dog, cat, mites, cockroaches, mold, junipers). I do not have food allergies. Have you found that diet changes your need for drugs? I am pretty stable on just 2 daily OTC meds, down from 5 total, including 3 prescriptions, by better monitoring and controlling my diet.
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Blog Post Comment❤️No. You shouldn't. It is basically abuse to the allergic person. I have been the allergic person and it got so bad that after chronic exposure even doing all the strategies above and with antihistamines I developed asthma symtoms and shortly after went to the hospital because I thought I was having an asthma atrack turns out it was a heart attack caused by allergic blood cells called eosinophils surrounding my heart and choking it. I was diagnosed with a severe chronic allergic disease. My...
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Blog Post Comment❤️Since when do pets take precedence over the health of humans? This is discrimination and is illegal. The Americans with Disabilities Act needs to be revised to address this discriminatory situation. Persons advocating for persons with asthma &/or allergies should call and/or write to: Civil Rights Division of US Dept of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20530 USA, phone: 1-202-514-4609 and give them your story/case (asthma and/or allergy situation). Important to stress...
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Blog Post Comment❤️Kathy P - Please feel free to use my comments below. I am being excluded, which is discriminatory and illegal, by being unable to travel on trains, planes and unable to go to airline terminals, hotels/motels, buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. because I cannot be where dog/pets have been in the past year due to my allergy to dog/pet dander. This is a direct threat to my health by limiting my major life activity of breathing due to forcing me, in these enclosed areas, to...
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Blog Post Comment❤️I am working in my state to get a bill introduced on behalf of those of us with life-threatening asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis in regards to this ubiquitous problem of fake service pets, "emotional support" dogs and just general entitlement of pet owners bringing pets into nearly every public building and store. Those of us with dander-sensitive disabilities have been suffering in silence, are being pushed out of our communities and have been ignored, treated rudely and unheard while the...
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Blog Post Comment❤️Definitely interested! There is an enormous amount of misinformation being disseminated about animal dander allergies, and appropriate treatment for asthma and allergies. There is a lot of work that can and should be done to help people understand the facts and the fair treatment of persons affected by these conditions.
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Blog Post Comment❤️I contacted Amtrak through their website with an electronic message option in October 2018. I received no reply when I inquired about how they are accommodating passengers with dog/cat allergies and allergy induced asthma. It appears that the travel industry as a whole is putting profits before public health and safety. Also, I don't understand why the travel industry is not subject to make accommodations for a breathing disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I had an allergic...
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Blog Post Comment❤️I haven't been able to fly since 2011. I contacted the ACLU and they declined to take on the issue of pets being allowed on planes and trains without even the ADA standards in place to protect those of us with dander-sensitive asthma and allergies. It is very unjust how profits are being put before life and death health issues.
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Blog Post Comment❤️The bill in my state passed in the House Committee. If it is voted to pass in the House, it will move to the Senate. It is a long process, but you have to begin by contacting your local House of Representatives rep for your area. Explain to him or her why a bill in your state is needed and ask him or her to look at examples of other states who are tightening up on the misrepresentation of pets as "service animals".
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Blog Post Comment❤️Unfortunately, the American Civil Liberties Union will not intervene in this matter with public transportation. The number you provided is a great course of action as is local state action.
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Blog Post Comment❤️I totally agree with you. The problem is becoming out of control. I have tried reaching out to both the federal and state government to have action taken to revise ADA or put laws into place protecting those with animal allergies. I'm told that the issues aren't "on their agendas". I've been told that I need to make a groundswell to get the government to listen. Any ideas would be welcome. The Department of Justice wasn't very helpful, telling me to take up my issues with my state...
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Blog Post CommentMy state passed a bill making it a misdemeanor to misrepresent a pet as a service animal. Unfortunately, the law is nearly impossible to enforce since there are so many limitations on what can be asked to prove the animal is a service animal. Most businesses don't know the laws so they don't bother to ask. Many people continue to lie if they are asked because they know they don't have to provide any proof. I have requested to my State representatives that the ADA be strengthened so that...
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Blog Post Comment❤️Since a pitbull attacked a child in an airport recently in my state, and the airline said the person presented a letter that was not verified as their proof of the animal being a "service animal", I am terrified of these dogs. I encountered a pitbull in a grocery store several months ago, and the owner knew he was not supposed to have the dog in the store. However, since there was no checker or security around, he took advantage of the opportunity to let his pitbull accompany him on his...
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Blog Post Comment❤️I share your frustration. I have been asking the federal government to strengthening the ADA so that there is some oversight. When it was enacted years ago, there were fewer conditions which used service dogs. The number of conditions covered has grown dramatically and the abuse of the law has spiraled out of control. There is no scientific evidence that some of these conditions are helped by service dogs, and there is no regulation of organizations which claim to train service dogs to work...
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Blog Post CommentThe problem is that AAFA is not aggressively fighting this problem of pet dogs and emotional support pets in public buildings without let up. They need to make this a prominent focal point of allergy and asthma prevention. This is perhaps the primary health risk to people with dander-sensitive asthma and allergies, yet it is virtually ignored publicly by AAFA and other so-called health support programs!
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Blog Post Comment❤️I agree that there needs to be more emphasis on animal allergies. I have asked the president of the AAFA, Kenny Mendez, for more aid in battling the onslaught of animals in public places. I have been told by the AAFA that they have limited resources, and food allergies have taken precedence. I am concerned now that service dogs are being trained to detect food allergens, basically pitting one allergy group against another. If others on this board speak directly to the president of the AAFA...
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Blog Post CommentI spoke with a representative at AAFA in December 2018. Although she said that AAFA has brought the perspectives of people with dander-sensitive disabilities to the Department of Transportation (DOT) (because the airline industry doesn't have to honor our ADA rights), AAFA does not, from what I can locate, seem to be doing any serious, aggressive public campaigns on our behalf. You are correct that AAFA seems to be primarily focused on food allergies; they also hide behind arbitrary "air...
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Blog Post CommentWhat I dont like about it is that it made me feel less important to people than their pets and that for many years I also treated myself that way and put myself around animals that made me suffer so badly until I had a heart attack due to allergic eosinophils surrounding my heart and choking it, then I took it seriously but still others dont and I struggle to stay strong and remember what happened to me so that that never happens to me again and its difficult because friends get dogs and I...
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Blog Post CommentIf you are allergic to cats or dogs and own one: "It should be recommended that the animal be removed from the patient's environment, as avoidance is believed to be the most effective measure for the management of dog and cat allergy." According to consensus https://onlinelibrary.wiley.co...ll/10.1111/all.13391
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Blog Post CommentHi Sillysally.. Yes these comments on this particular post pop out reverse than the others with the oldest comment at the bottom and the newer ones at the top. It confused me too because I made that cat/dog comment a while back before your comments. Awesome on homemade products! I usually buy 7th Generation products or use vinegar water with a few drops of essential oils. If you ever want to share your cleaning recipes, Id love to hear them! I am really trying to keep up on all my cleaning...