This week, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a final rule regarding service animals travelling by air.
As Open Doors Organisation (ODO) explains: “By aligning the definition of a service animal with that of the Department of Justice under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the DOT has ensured that untrained animals, classified as emotional support animals, are no longer travelling uncrated in aircraft cabins, making air travel safer for everyone and eliminating the stigma for legitimate service animals.”
This final rule defines a service animal as a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. For the first time, it allows airlines to recognise emotional support animals as pets, rather than service animals, and permits airlines to limit the number of service animals that one passenger can bring onboard an aircraft to two service animals.
The final rule is expected to generate annual cost savings to airlines between US$15.6 million and $21.6 million and annual net benefits of $3.9 to $12.7 million.
The final rule puts an end to the growth in fraud surrounding the use of service animals, a practice ODO Director Eric Lipp has called “a cottage industry where medical professionals are selling forms to allow these untrained animals to fly as emotional support animals.”
We can now say goodbye to the sights of peacocks, monkeys, pigs, ducks and other animals more appropriate to being on the ark rather than on an aircraft.
