Why You Could See a Mini Horse on Future Flights

Emotional support animals have been the subject of a lot of heated debate over the last couple of years. People have brought all kinds of animals (and other creatures) onboard as emotional support animals to help the passenger during flight with anxiety or similar issues. However, many people have abused the policies in other ways as well in an effort to avoid paying the pet fee.

Why You Could See a Mini Horse on  Future Flights

Link: DoT Statement on Service Animals

This past week, the Department of Transportation has streamlined what kind of animals are considered acceptable as in-flight emotional support animals. They officially are dogs, cats, and mini horses. This means no more hamsters, peacocks or other creatures as it has to be within one of those three kinds of animals.

Here is an example of a mini horse serving as an emotional support animal. Mini horses, when they do fly, and their humans are normally given bulkhead rows. Miniature horses are between 2-3 feet tall.

Here’s a miniature horse on a plane pic.twitter.com/1aSt94nvDW

— James – Amazon FC Ambassador (@etienneshrdlu) October 22, 2016

Apparently, mini horses are common in flight, according to the DoT. However, having flown over a million miles myself, I know that I have yet to see this! So, while they could be on flights (still), it will likely not be something we all see!

This is a photo from 2004 (check out the old Delta logo!)

In the same announcement, the DoT has said that airlines cannot ban a specific breed of dogs (like the pit bulls) though it is up to the discretion of the flight crew if they feel unsafe with a particular animal. There have been a few incidents where dogs have hurt people onboard so it is good to know that flight attendants can keep an animal from boarding if they deem it unsafe.

Featured image courtesy Larrywalmart [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]