It’s been a tough year for emotional support animals. Several have made headlines due to incidents with airlines and, in response, many airlines have tightened their restrictions on these animals. The latest: Delta announced in a press release on Monday that it will be imposing stricter regulations on emotional support animals on its flights. Specifically, emotional support animals will not be allowed on flights longer than eight hours. Age also matters. Emotional support animals and trained service animals will not be allowed on flights if they are under 4 months old. This comes less than a year after Delta announced that it would tighten its regulations on emotional support animals in response to an 84 percent increase in incidents with the animals since 2016. The airline specifically called out animals peeing and pooping on flights and biting passengers or crew. United Airlines also changed its emotional support animal policy after an emotional support peacock was denied access to a flight. United now requires “additional documentation,” including a veterinary health form that shows the animal has been properly vaccinated and has been trained to “behave properly in a public setting. With prior documentation and clearance, a customer may travel with no more than one emotional support animal, which cannot weigh more than 65 pounds,” the new regulations say. To read more on this story, click here:‘The System is Clearly Abused’: Why 2018 Was a Terrible Year for Emotional Support Pets on Planes
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Delta Airlines announced Wednesday it’s updating its service and support animal policy yet again to further enhance restrictions. The airline will now allow only one emotional support animal per customer per flight and will prohibit all “pit bull type dogs” as service or support animals. These new limitations come as a “direct result of growing safety concerns following recent incidents in which several employees were bitten,” the airline said in a press release. Delta first updated its policy in March, citing customer abuse and a rise in animal-related incidents. The regulations require those wishing to travel with a service or support animal to provide special documentation. Customers must show a current signed veterinary health form or immunization record for the animal 48 hours in advance, as well as a signed letter by a doctor or mental health professional and proof the animal can behave while in the cabin. "The safety and security of Delta people and our customers is always our top priority," Chief Operating Officer Gil West said in a statement. "We will always review and enhance our policies and procedures to ensure that Delta remains a leader in safety." According to the statement, the airline carries around 700 service and support animals daily and has seen an “84 percent increase in reported animal incidents since 2016, including urination/defecation, biting and even a widely reported attack by a 70-pound dog,” which they note is uncommon behavior for properly trained working animals.
Frequent travelers have no doubt seen some strange things in passenger cabins, including a surprising variety of so-called “emotional support animals” (ESAs) – critters that are allowed to fly with human companions who say they just can’t travel without their furry friends close at hand. But now some airlines want to kick the menagerie off the plane. According to Aviation Daily, carriers including United, JetBlue and Delta are asking the Transportation Department to amend its rules to ban emotional support animals from passenger cabins. What kind of animals are we talking about? The most common, of course, are dogs – and there are plenty of stories about passengers falsely claiming their canines are support animals so that they can fly with them in the cabin instead of the cargo hold, or just to gain access to an up-front seat. Or they are simply trying to avoid the additional cost or burden of shipping the animal in the cargo hold? To read more on this story, click here:Kicking “Support Animals” Off the Plane
