Thursday, January 23, 2020

Emotional Support Animals May No Longer Be Allowed On Flights

Lisette Voytko Forbes Staff Jan 22, 2020, 05:10pm
Topline: The Department of Transportation (DOT) on Wednesday proposed a ban on emotional support animals aboard airlines following a dramatic increase in incidents involving untrained animals in recent years— according to the Wall Street Journal.
·         The DOT’s proposed rule would continue to allow trained service animals on flights, but it seeks to define a service animal “as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks” for a person with a disability, and would not consider an emotional support animal as a service animal.
·         The proposal would also allow airlines to create their own requirements for service animals, which could include having passengers with animals check in early for flights, enforcing a two-animal limit per person with each animal harnessed or leashed, as well as making sure the animals fit in its owner’s foot space. 
·         Travelers with physical or psychological disabilities who want to bring their dogs into the passenger cabin of a plane would be required under the policy to fill out a form saying the canine has been trained to perform specific tasks to assist them.
·         “Flight Attendants have been hurt and safety has been compromised by untrained animals loose in the cabin,” said the Association of Flight Attendants in a statement supporting the DOT’s proposal, adding: "The days of Noah’s Ark in the air are hopefully coming to an end.”
·         Along with 22 states, airlines like Delta and Alaska Airlines have already created stricter policies for support animals⁠—and under the new DOT rules, airlines would still be able to decide whether animals could fly with travelers for emotional support, but would not be allowed to discriminate against certain dog breeds.
·         Public comments are open for the proposal over the next 60 days, after which the DOT will analyze them and issue a final policy (but there is no firm deadline).
Big number: 751,000. That’s how many emotional support animals flew on commercial planes in 2017, according to the Washington Post
Key background: Emotional support animals have proliferated on airlines in recent years. And a plethora of creatures besides dogs have been described by their owners as emotional support animals, ranging from a duck to a peacock⁠—and going viral in the process. Over 3,000 complaints have been made to the DOT about service animals on flights in 2018, an increase from 719 in 2013. The DOT proposal narrows its 2019 guidelines which said that in addition to dogs, cats and miniature horses would also be considered service animals.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/01/22/emotional-support-animals-may-no-longer-be-allowed-on-flights/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-dozen&utm_campaign=daily-dozen&cdlcid=5d1670731802c8c524c78889#4f9c4a55e83f

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