Emotional support animals: turkey and horse fly, but squirrel, pig and peacock grounded
Last week’s banning of a woman who tried to take a squirrel with her on a flight in Florida wasn’t the first such case. Who can forget the hamster flushed down a toilet and the peacock forced to travel terrestrially?
A woman was kicked off a flight in Florida last week for bringing her “emotional support squirrel” on board.
Although the woman had informed Frontier Airlines that she was taking along an “emotional support animal”, she did not say it was a squirrel – a species that is banned, along with other rodents.
The incident delayed the flight by about two hours.
Several airlines have tightened restrictions on so-called emotional support animals as more people seek to fly with them to help cope with mental health issues. They can be prescribed by licensed mental health professionals in the United States, and are different from service animals, which perform tasks such as guiding their owner.
In Hong Kong, the only animals permitted in a plane cabin are disability assistance dogs, and prior approval is required.