A debate has been raging for ages about what constitutes an emotional support animal when it comes to taking furry (or feathery, or scaly) friends on public transport.

Dogs are fine, but what about alligators and peacocks? I wish I was making those last two up.

By all accounts, it looks like you can register just about anything as an emotional support animal.

Enter New York resident Floyd Haynes (above), who decided to test this theory. When someone said, “there’s a line that can’t be crossed”, Haynes said, “hold my beer”.

Then he took it back and filled out an application form.

Here’s the New York Post:

Brooklyn resident Floyd Hayes, 47, registered a pint of beer as an emotional support animal with the USA Service Dog Registration in December, according to Ale Street News.

Brooklyn Paper reports that Hayes aims to use the certification to carry his beverage of choice — like, say, a seasonal IPA — on public transit.

Choosing your emotional support beer is an important decision. Personally, I’d recommend a crisp, light-tasting Mexican beer, like Sol. If your emotional support beer is supposed to improve your mood, you can’t go wrong with a beer that invites you to taste the sun.

Back to Haynes and why he embarked on this journey with his pint.

“I travel from upstate to Brooklyn a lot, and on the bus they say it’s a federal crime to smoke or have an alcoholic beverage unless by prior written contest, and I always wondered where you get that consent,” Hayes, a creative director originally from England, told the publication. “Not that I’m an alcoholic,” he added.

Hayes just wanted to see if it would work, and it did.

Hayes took to the service dog registration website to enter his beer as an emotional support dog. He ticked off “No Training Needed” as the training status of the dog and put that it was to help with his “Social Anxiety Disorder.”

“I don’t mean it in a heady mental health manner,” the Clinton Hill resident told the Brooklyn Paper. “More if you go to a party, and want to break the ice.”

In the end, he probably still won’t be able to take his beer on public transport, but I’m sure we’d all like to see him try.

In the meantime, if you’re partaking in a little social lubricant, make sure you do it with vitality, passion and independence, and – as always – in moderation.

[source:newyorkpost]