During a recent flight from Minneapolis to Detroit, I observed a woman walking through the MSP airport with a small dog on a leash. As this was in the secured area, I assume she had a ticket and intended to fly somewhere. I’m pretty sure this was not a service animal; it was a small dog (curly hair like a poodle, but maybe 12" tall), and it was wandering all over (not guiding her), and there was no vest/marking indicating it was a service dog.
So what’s the deal? How did she get through security with an uncaged dog? Why would she be wandering through the terminal with it? What happens when she gets on a plane with it?
I had a somewhat similar experience recently, and it surprised me too. The dog was little and was carried on board in a soft, mesh-sided bag that fit under the seat of the passenger sitting in front of the dog’s owner. It was certainly not a service dog. The owner sat in the row of seats in front of me. The dog started freaking out early in the flight so the owner took the dog in her lap to soothe it. This annoyingly loud scenario of the moaning dog and its over-doting owner went on for about 30 minutes or more until the thing finally and mercifully dozed off (the dog, not the owner).
I was like WTF? Now granted, the pooch on my flight was not walking around like yours was, but since when do they allow dogs in the passenger cabin at all? I thought they all had to travel in the luggage hold, or someplace like that.
If you mean “randomly sniffing the asses of nearby travelers,” then sure. Other than that, no; the handler appeared to be a fellow airline customer intending to travel somewhere, not any sort of law-enforcement or security official.
Pets that are small enough to fit in a carrier that can be placed under the seat in front of you can usually be carried on for a fee. They are supposed to remain in the carrier at all times while aboard the aircraft generally. This is not often policed.
Now, about bigger dogs… Service animals are permitted to be aboard (and out of a carrier). The catch is, a ticket/gate agent can’t ask you for documentation that Fido is a service animal. All they can ask is: “Is that a service animal?” and “What service does it perform?”
On the carrier I work for, management doesn’t even want that second question to be asked. So a lot of folks have figured out they can have Fido on board for free, by claiming Fido is a support animal. While I have seen some folks be quite obnoxious about it, most are low key and do their best not to obstruct or inconvenience other passengers.
I dislike the rules-gaming, but ultimately, if someone is going to travel with a pet, it is vastly better for the animal to be in the cabin than in the hold. So, because it’s a win for the animal, I guess I’m ok with it, even though I’m pretty sure they’re cheating. Transporting animals in the hold is something I would avoid if at all possible.
That’s exactly what a drug or bomb sniffing team would look like. Mundane person with mundane dog.
The alert signal would be subtle too- dog walks over and sits next to the suspect, or similar.
Southwest Airlines, at least, allows pets in the cabin as long as they can fit in a carrier under the seat (as Av8trix) mentioned. For example, see here"
ETA: And looking through an arbitrary selection of American carriers, it appears most airlines have an in-cabin option for pet.
The last trip I was on had a woman with a small terrier of some sort with her sitting next to me. I was actually surprised at how well-behaved it was. Never made a peep. When we landed in Phoenix, she took him out of his carrier and walked him through the airport.
There have been times when I have traveled with my Pomeranian. She has a soft sided crate (rigid sided crates must fly cargo ime) which does indeed fit under the seat, but again, ime, I have been allowed to hold her “crate” during take offs and landings, and during flights she has been allowed to sit on my lap. She is a very well behaved dog, and very pretty, and never fails to charm airline staff and other travellers.
A small foofie dog could be considered a “service animal” if one could obtain documentation from Dr. Nullanvoid certifying that the dog owner must be able to fondle said creature during the flight to avoid mental chilblains or similar psychological derangement (not that I mind well-behaved non-pooping/non-weeing dogs on a flight, but come on).
I eagerly await the first time someone hauls a service pig or Shetland pony onto one of my flights. Or even a service snake (Mrs. J. will have someone’s ass over that one).
As this settled into my brain, I realized it’s all to the benefit of the airlines.
Almost all dogs that will be taken on flights are going to be well behaved, or at least well contained.
So they get to make customers happy, avoid having dogs in the hold (mentioned above) and also get to avoid the responsibility and cost of handling the dog.
That’s interesting,…I reached just the opposite conclusion!.
I’m really surprised to learn that the airlines allow pets more casually than most public places. An airplane packs a lot of people into a tight space…unlike , say, a post office branch, or an entire office building. Yet most post offices and office buildings have explicit signs prohibiting animals.
Happy customers?
I like dogs and cats. But lots of other people don’t.
And many of those people are allergic to them.
That’s potential for a lot of unhappy customers, and lawsuits from the ones who develop medical problems.Asthma attack on a flight? 6 hours of sneezing on a flight? That’s a lawyer’s dream.
So I’m (happily) surprised to learn that the airlines like pet-loving-people more than they fear non-pet-loving lawyers.
(And I sure would like to like to star in a movie called “Cats on a Plane”)
If I’m not mistaken, cabin pets must come out of their crates to pass through the security checkpoints. Their crates have to be X-rayed, but the pets can’t go through the X-ray machines while inside, presumably for health reasons. So the pet has to be removed from the crate and carried through the metal detector.
I’m not what the TSA folks do if they’re using one of the new millimeter-wave scanners instead; the pose you’re required to adopt in there isn’t conducive to holding a pet. Presumably they would just send you through the metal detector instead, and/or do a manual search.
ETA: this doesn’t answer the question of whether pets outside of crates are permitted/tolerated/allowed in the main concourse area, of course, but I thought it was important to note that the pets can’t actually stay in their crates the whole time they’re in the airport.
I fly a lot and this has been getting more common and more annoying. Last week I saw a woman going through CVG with a golden retriever that had a large yellow “Service Animal” vest.
The giveaway was that the dog was 12’ in front of her, surging at the end of the leash. No properly trained “Service Animal” would be anywhere other at the owner’s heel. Thankfully, the ill-behaved brute wasn’t on my flight, and neither was the dog.
Of the top 40 airports listed on the front page, I clicked on several, and this seems to be the policy: (or variations thereof)
“As a general rule, pets are not allowed inside the terminals, unless being in a kennel. Exception: working dogs on a leash.”
“Animals are not permitted in the terminals at the Airport unless they are being used to assist disabled individuals, or are in proper pet carriers. Contact your airline as to their requirements”
So I’d guess a semi-official answer would be “Pets” aren’t permitted in the terminal unless confined in their carrier. Service animals seem to be in the clear. Like I said earlier though, many folks claim their “pet” to be a “service animal” both to avoid fees, and have greater leeway in what they are permitted to do with their animal during the trip.
A passenger can get a big dog on board, much larger than would be permitted with a “Pet” by claiming they are a service animal- a normal “pet” in the cabin would have to be small enough to fit under the seat in a carrier.
Various airlines may restrict what sorts of service animals they are willing to have on board. I seem to recall that my carrier had restricted service animals to dogs cats and (mini horses? I think?) I’ll have to go find documentation for that one.
I suspect this stems more from the airline not wanting their employees to make (possibly wrong, sue-worthy) determinations of whether a possible service animal should be allowed or not.
In the case of allergies, you can make a special service request when booking- (Deathly allergic to peanuts, great danes, etc). Should you arrive at the gate and find a pony-sized great dane waiting to board, the airline will likely be happy to accommodate you on the next flight.
Vests or markings to indicate it as a service animal most off are bogus. Vests give an air of authenticity where none exists. The law makes no requirement for vests, patches, etc., for service animals. In some ways consider them as fake veterans wearing medals to boast of something they are not.
The only vests worn by service animals most often are service animals in training by a bona fide service organization. The person leashed to such an animal will readily provide information, sometimes even documentation, that they are training the dog.
Nope. Animals strictly for emotional support do not meet the definition of a service animal.
While the law limits what can be asked, that limitation does not apply to private persons. So while the airline may be restricted under the law, a fellow passenger is not.
12,000
It seems to me that Phoenix’s Sky Harbor (where I saw the dog walking through the terminal) is one of the places where it’s okay. I can’t see an explicit policy on that page, but it sure seems to allow pets walking around, based on the photos.
And there’s this:
So, it seems it’s okay there, but I’m not 100% certain.
