Delta can’t ban pit bull service dogs or other specific breeds on flights, feds say
Airlines aren’t allowed to discriminate against service dogs based on their breed, federal officials announced Thursday as they issued a final statement of service animal enforcement priorities.
That’s a rejection of a year-old Delta Air Lines policy, which says the major carrier does “not accept pit bull type dogs as service or support animals,” according to Delta’s website. Delta put the policy in place in 2018, citing “growing safety concerns” after two workers were bitten by pit bulls while boarding a flight from Atlanta to Tokyo, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
But U.S. Department of Transportation officials said in a 28-page guidance issued on Thursday that the Department “is not aware of and has not been presented with evidence supporting the assertion that an animal poses a direct threat simply because of its breed.” With that in mind, officials said, “a limitation based exclusively on breed of the service animal is not allowed under the Air Carrier Access Act.” The guidance specifically mentioned that “certain airlines” had targeted “pit bull type dogs.”
Delta said in a statement to McClatchy newsgroup that it is reviewing the guidance.
“Delta continuously reviews and enhances its policies and procedures for animals onboard as part of its commitment to health, safety and protecting the rights of customers with disabilities,” a spokesperson for the Atlanta-based carrier said in an email on Thursday. “In 2018, Delta augmented its policies on service and support animals to reinforce our core value of putting safety and people first, always.”
The Department said it will officially publish its guidance next week, and then carriers will have a month to start following the rules, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Still, specific animals can be kept off planes based on their behavior: Transportation officials said “disability regulation allows airlines to deny transport to an animal if, among other things, it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.”
Animal lovers and disability rights advocates pushed back on Delta’s anti-pit bull policy when it was announced.
“First and foremost, it’s about people. Delta is discriminating against people,” said Regina Lizik of the Animal Farm Foundation, which trains pit-bull type shelter dogs as service animals, according to the Washington Post. “When Delta or anyone puts out a regulation like this that dictates what kind of dog can be a service dog, they are reducing access for someone with a disability.”
Even the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spoke out against the ban.
The group’s president, Matt Bershadker, said in a statement that the policy “spreads false and life-threatening stereotypes” about the dog breed.
Federal officials said in a news release that they hoped the final set of guidelines “provides greater clarity to passengers, airlines, and other stakeholders about the DOT’s interpretation and enforcement of the existing service animal rules.”
Officials said they issued a public statement in June 2018 saying that a breed-specific prohibition “is not allowed under the Air Carrier Access Act,” and added that the Department’s newly released guidance “continues to take the view that restrictions on specific dog breeds are inconsistent with the current regulation.”
Federal officials also said in the statement issued Thursday that enforcement officers will focus on making sure service dogs, cats and miniature horses are accepted on planes — but they added that airlines are “subject to enforcement action if they categorically refuse to transport other species that they are required to transport under the current rule.”
Animals can still be barred from planes if they’re too large or heavy for the cabin, officials said.
This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Delta can’t ban pit bull service dogs or other specific breeds on flights, feds say."
