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New rule allows U.S. airlines to ban emotional support animals from boarding the cabin, ending a system that used to lead to everything from turtles to pigs, snakes and even turkeys next to their owners.
Last year, the Department of Transportation issued guidelines saying that miniature dogs, cats and horses could be accepted as service animals for transport – but on Wednesday the agency reversed the course, announcing that only dogs should be considered legitimate service animals on commercial flights. after passengers ripped off the system to carry “unusual” animals into the cabin.
Under the revised rule, which will take effect in 30 days, airlines will no longer be required to treat emotional support pets as service animals. Only a dog “individually trained to perform work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability” can be considered a service animal, according to the rule. All others will need to be checked in in the cargo hold – likely for a fee.
The Transport Department said the overhaul was prompted by disruption caused by “unusual species of animals” on flights, which “have eroded public confidence in legitimate service animals.”
The agency also said there had been an increase in the number of passengers “fraudulently representing their pets as service animals” only to misbehave during the flight.
Airlines have long complained that passengers are exploiting vague rules and the lack of regulations regarding service animals by claiming that they need their pets for emotional support on flights.
In 2018, United Airlines refused to let a woman fly with her emotional support peacock, Dexter, even after purchasing a separate seat for him.
Earlier that year, a 21-year-old woman admitted to throwing her “doctor-certified” comfort hamster down an airport toilet after Spirit Airlines refused to let the hamster board the flight.
In 2016, a man flew with his emotional support duck on a flight. And in 2014, a passenger was kicked off a US Airways flight after his emotional support pig pooped in the cabin.
Passengers were also seen with “comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders, etc.” service or support animals.
However, under Department of Transportation rules, airlines are not allowed to ban service dogs just because of their breed.
Under the final rule, airlines can also limit the number of service animals traveling with a single passenger to two and require them to fit in the driver’s foot space on the plane.
Airlines may also require assistance dogs to be harnessed, leashed or tied at all times on the aircraft, and prohibit animals that exhibit “aggressive behavior” or pose a direct threat to the health of others. .
The Department of Transportation acknowledged that deciding whether to compel airlines to recognize emotional support animals as service animals was a “contentious issue, with views strongly held on all sides and without a perfect solution.”
The ministry noted that airlines could choose to continue to carry emotional support animals free of charge, at their discretion.
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