The Transportation Department is set to issue new guidance next spring on what constitutes a service pet and which animals passengers can and cannot bring on commercial airplanes.
The department plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in March 2019 that would address the appropriate definition of a service animal and include safeguards to ensure safety.
The regulation, disclosed in the agency’s fall regulatory agenda and not previously reported, would also aim to reduce the likelihood that passengers wishing to travel with their pets on aircraft will be able to falsely claim that their pets are service animals.
No changes or recommendations to federal policy are expected before the busy holiday travel season.
Earlier this year, major American airline companies began cracking down on passengers attempting to bring animals on flights claiming the animals were either service pets or emotional support companions.
There is a difference. Service dogs are trained animals that help people with disabilities. Emotional support animals do not require training.
Some of the more egregious cases of growing pet fraud nationwide involved passengers attempting to bring peacocks and hamsters into a plane’s cabin.
In March, a small dog died aboard a United Airlines flight after a flight attendant demanded it be stored in an overhead bin for more than two hours.
At the time, United Airlines called the incident a “tragic accident.”
As of September 2018, there are 20 states with what can be termed true bans on the fraudulent representation of pets as service animals, according to research conducted at Michigan State University. Three other states have related laws, totaling 22 states that criminalize some aspect of service animal fraud.
Punishment for committing so-called pet fraud in these states ranges from “petty offense” carrying a $50 fine to Class III misdemeanors.
