‘Dogs only’ on US flights

The US Department of Transportation made a ruling on Dec. 2 that the only service animals to be allowed on planes are dogs. It further ruled that “emotional support animals” are not a category of service animal, which they defined as “a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.”

Unusual emotional-support animals on planes, such as pigs, peacocks, ducks and others, have made news in the last few years. After some animals displayed bad behavior during flights, such as aggression and not being housebroken, airlines enacted their own service-animal rules. Some animals already banned by individual airlines included spiders, rats and goats.