Puppies And Kittens Will No Longer Be Allowed

United Airlines has updated its policy on service animals allowed in the passenger cabin of its airliners.

The updated policy went into effect Monday. "To further ensure the well-being of our employees and customers while accommodating passengers with disabilities, we are expanding our existing policy regarding emotional support animals, service animals and in-cabin pets," the carrier said in a news release.

The policy changes include:

• Limiting emotional support animals to flights under 8 hours. We have seen increases in onboard incidents on longer flights involving these animals, many of which are unaccustomed to spending an extended amount of time in the cabin of an aircraft.
• No longer accepting kittens or puppies under four months of age as emotional support animals, in-cabin pets or service animals on any flight, regardless of length. Animals under the age of four months typically have not received the necessary vaccinations that help ensure the safety of our employees and customers.
• Limiting acceptance of emotional support animals to dogs and cats. Additionally, we are limiting acceptance of service animals to dogs, cats and miniature horses.

The airline will honor reservations made prior to January 3 under the previous policy with the approved documentation, if required, and will continue to support customers with disabilities including those traveling with service or emotional support animals through our 24/7 Accessibility Desk, which is in place to provide service and care for our customers.

Finally, the airline says it will continue to support veterans in their travel needs and make every accommodation to ensure their experience with us is as comfortable and efficient as possible.

(Source: United Airlines website. Image from file)

FMI: www.united.com