Animals on Airlines
By Heather Legg | Nov 17, 2009
Another issue is floating around in the big blue skies these days, one akin to peanuts on planes and the risks it poses to those suffering from peanut allergies. This one however, doesn’t involve food, it’s pets causing the problem.
These days, pets, especially the small designer dogs, are seen everywhere. The other day we were coming home and it seemed every car had a dog in it. But it doesn’t stop in the taking with, it involves the joining. Dogs are at the ball fields, malls, and stores. We see them in carts at Home Depot and in purses at The Gap.
People travel more these days than they did decades ago, and people take their pets with them more than they did years ago. Obviously with the huge pet industry of clothes, accessories and carriers, people view their pets in a different light than in years past.
But what happens when you’re allergic to them and stuck in a seat near one at 40,000 feet for a few hours?
Pets used to have ride in the cargo hold, but recently Air Canada announced it would allow pet owners to carry dogs and cats under 10 kilograms with them onto planes, instead of putting them in the cargo hold.
The Lung Association is leading a campaign to stop this, saying it poses too much of a health risk for those suffering from pet allergies and/or asthma. Guide dogs have been allowed on flights and that will continue to be the case, it’s pets that are causing the argument.
Airlines are saying they are doing their part by limiting the number of pets on a flight and affording those with allergies to sit far away from the animal if they let the airlines know ahead of time.
As of now, different airlines have different policies concerning animals on board:
• American Airlines allows up to seven pets in the cabin at a time, but pets may also travel in the cargo hold.
• Air France, Alitalia and KLM allow small pets under a certain weight to travel in the cabin.
• European Union rules require they carry documentation of all shots and have a microchip implanted.
• Delta Airlines allows dogs, cats, and birds.
• Cathay Pacific requires all pets travel in the cargo hold.
I think back to when smoking was allowed on airlines. That’s unfathomable now, and though the risks that brought about were different, health was still a major concern in banning it. Now many airlines ban peanuts due to the high number of allergies. So now, pets. This will be an interesting one to watch.
