Airlines are not allowed on board hamsters and peacocks who support their owners. What's happening?

In the United States on February 8, a 21-year-old student Belen Aldecosia washed her hamster into the toilet at the Baltimore airport. This happened after Spirit Airlines forbade her to take the animal on board. According to Belen, she specified in advance with the company whether the hamster Pabble, who emotionally supporting her, can be in the cabin of the aircraft. The student also claims that it was the representatives of Spirit Airlines that invited her to lower the animal into the toilet. Earlier, another American company-United Airlines- did not let the peacock into its plane, which, according to the hostess, was its animal-assistant.

Animal assistants are pets who emotionally support their owners. They help people with disabilities, mental disorders and autism. Unlike service dogs or ponies , who perform certain tasks, assistants do not undergo training-they do not have any tasks, they just have to be nearby and interact with the owner.

It’s just that you can’t call your pet an assistant. In the United States, psychiatrists and psychotherapists decide whether their patient needs an animal who has emotional support. A person who will decide to take an animal animal must also notify the management company at the house in which he lives, or the lessor, from whom he rents an apartment. According to the law on the ban on discrimination in the field of housing, landlords and management companies do not have the right to demand confirming documents, but some ask the residents to confirm the diagnosis and show the direction from the doctor, which states that a person needs an animal-assistant. In most countries of Europe, including in Russia, there are no laws that would allow the animal to get the status of an emotionally supportive assistant.

Any animal can become an assistant in the United States - a dog, a cat, a pony, a hamster and even a peacock. However, it all depends on the owner of the housing - he may not approve an exotic animal and a pet, which, in his opinion, is able to harm others. If the tenant who needs an animal assistant seems that the landlord or management company violate his rights, he can contact the US Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which will conduct his own examination.

In the USA and Canada, assistant animals can fly with the owner in the interior of the plane without carrying. This right is enshrined in the law , which prohibits disability discrimination when organizing air transportation. The passenger should warn the airline 48 hours before departure and provide medical documents confirming the diagnosis of the passenger and the need for his pet on board. The airline may not put an animal into the salon, which inadequately behaves or poses a threat to other passengers.

In 2018, some airlines updated the rules for transporting animals. This is due to incidents when the assistant animals attacked other passengers and celebrated the need for the aircraft. So, on March 1, 2018, United Airlines and Delta will demand from a passenger with an animal assistant not only documents from a psychiatrist, but also a veterinary certificate and a certificate confirming that the animal has been trained and can behave in public places. Prior to this, the airline did not require accompanying documents for the animal itself. Representatives of United Airlines also recalled that on board it is impossible to take reptiles, insects, hedgehogs, snakes, rodents and wild birds. The airline hopes that the new rules will reduce the number of scammers who are trying to deliver their pets for free, giving them for assistants. Some European airlines allow you to transport helping dogs in the cabin, but only if the flight follows in the USA.

Not everyone likes that animals are allowed to be in the cabin of the aircraft. After the incident with a peacock nicknamed Dexter, whose hostess, New York artist Ventiko, tried to take the bird on board the United Airlines, articles came out in many American media that condemn the “fashion for emotionally supporting animals”. In particular, they told how easy it is to buy a doctor’s recommendation for the maintenance of an animal assistant and a blanket for a dog with the inscription “Emotional support”.

“The situation [with animal assistants] is a clear example of how mass switches can become the norm and how decent people can make incredibly selfish decisions. This is one of the disadvantages of modern culture in which individual preferences and self -expression put above public interests, ” commented the case with the peacock, the journalist of The New York Times David Leonhardt. He was supported by Josh Barro from Business Insider. In his opinion, the Americans must stop being selfish: "Start putting their pets into damn carrying, as has been done for decades."

Anya Spilkovskaya