United Airlines Bans Some Pet Breeds From Cargo Hold

After the controversial death of a dog that was kept in a plane cabin’s overhead compartment during a flight from Texas to New York in March, United Airlines has now revamped its pet travel policy, including putting a ban on the transport of dozens of breeds of cats and dogs in the cargo compartment.

According to a report in Los Angeles Times, passengers are still allowed to bring small pets, including the breeds that are banned in its cargo, in case the animal carrier fits under the seat without obstructing the path of others.

While the new policy has banned a number of breeds, the list left out on service animals and emotional support animals. However, the policy does bans fully grown large breeds that include mastiffs and some bulldogs since neither can they be allowed in a cargo hold nor fit under the seat of an airplane.

The report states that United Airlines made an announcement Tuesday as part of the new pet policy that it will work in collaboration with American Humane, a 141-year-old animal welfare group, to make further improvements to its policies regarding pets and include changes to staff training and other requirements that passengers might have if they are traveling with pets.

Speaking about pet transportation, Robin Ganzert, president and chief executive of American Humane said, “Transporting pets introduces a variety of risks, and when United approached us we knew we had to take on the challenge of helping improve and ensure the health, safety, and comfort of so many animals.”

Reports state that the new policy introduced by United Airlines would come into effect from June 18 and is basically “out of concern for higher adverse health risks."

Under the new policy, there is a ban on transporting breeds including Boston Terriers, boxers, pugs and Pekingese dogs, and Persian and Himalayan cats are banned.

United Airlines has also clarified that it will only accept cats and dogs; no other animal would be allowed in the cargo held area. The airline also said it would stop transporting animals to and from Las Vegas, Palm Springs in California, Phoenix and Tuscon in Arizona because of the extreme heat in the area during summer months.

United Airlines first temporarily stopped transporting pets after a 10-month-old French bulldog died on March 12.

Reports state that the flight attendant present there at the time feared that the dog carrier would not fit under the seat and therefore instructed the owners to put the carrier in the overhead compartment as a result of which the dog died during the flight, which was more than three hours long.

The following day, the airlines again faced backlash after they accidentally shipped a dog to Japan instead of Kansas City. The dog was later reunited with its owner.

In another incident, a dog was incorrectly placed on a flight to St. Louis which prompted the airline to divert the flight to Akron, Ohio, where the dog was intended to go.