Goodbye, emotional support spider

In a thunderous sentence Today, the Department of Transportation (DOT) slammed the door on a freewheeling era where snakes soared into the troposphere – Emotional support animals are no longer considered service animals. Period. End of line. No. No, Said.

Admit it, they’ve gotten sloppy. Airlines have had to invent rules that prohibit all kinds of wild animalssquirrels, Peacocks, snakes, kangaroos) For a reason. Of the 15,000 comments allegedly received by the DOT, the roughly 9,000 supporters of the new rule, including disability rights advocates, representatives from the airline industry and a veterinary association, have complained that emotional support animals bit passengers, urinated / defecated during the flight, or attacked legitimate service animals. Some liars have even taken counterfeit service animal vests off the internet, if you can believe it! (You weren’t fooling anyone with that shit. You brought it yourself).

The DOT has ruled that emotional support animals will no longer carry the service animal designation and are now considered pets, relegated at best to carry-on baggage and at worst as cargo. They allow airlines to impose strict limits: only dogs, limit of two dogs per passenger, and only dogs that fit in the floor. Airlines may possibly require DOT forms attesting to the dog’s health and ability to use the toilet “hygienically”. A DOT spokesperson noted in an email to Gizmodo that lying about these documents would constitute a federal crime.

They point out that miniature horses and capuchin monkeys, which are also used as service animals, may be allowed if they are approved by the airline, although they do not get automatic passes.

The decision stems from what appears to be a heated debate. “The Ministry recognizes that the question of whether to require airlines to recognize emotional support animals as service animals is contentious,” says the rule, “with deeply rooted opinions on all sides and no solution. perfect”.

As the DOT notes, many of the 6,000 commentators against the rule objected to the “trained to the task” designation. Under the new rule, “psychiatric” service animals should always be treated as service animals, although it is not clear whether just being there and calming people down is ” chore, “which is loosely defined as” individually trained to work or perform tasks. “For the benefit of a qualified disabled person”. We have requested clarification and will update the post if we receive a response.

What We Learned: Don’t play by the rules of the airplane unless you’re ready for the DOT’s iron fist. Millennials can only look back now and remind our children of the wild times when iguanas roamed the cabins of the 747s.