ES Pets

[mrgm50]

Thank You for finally cracking down on the ES pet. As in anything good people will take advantage of it until someone or company says thats enough. It's meant for people that realy need them not just because you want to ride with your pet. Thank you

[Kate564]

It is more then wanting to « ride with your pet ». I have travelled for over 10 years with my two furry babies.  I stay at least a month at my destination and need my two little girls that travel in the same carrier together to help keep me calm and at peace.  I understand the cat dog rule and can understand the carrier to not disturb others,but having 2 esa in a carrier over 1 I don’t know what difference it makes to the airline.  When I fly my furry babies go under seat in front of me and after take off I unzip top and put my foot inside to touch them and they never come out of the carrier. Having the two girls together keeps them calm for the flight also.

[spacecoastbill]

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@mrgm50 wrote:

Thank You for finally cracking down on the ES pet. As in anything good people will take advantage of it until someone or company says thats enough. It's meant for people that realy need them not just because you want to ride with your pet. Thank you

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Not much of a crack down.  You can simply get online and get a letter for as little as $20.... no problem.

[jls2662]

I would hope that Southwest would support the need for ES dogs by simply creating a better policy around this.  Only allow dogs and also set a size guideline of under, say 30lbs.  The dog must be also include a certification from a behavioral trainer so remove those looking for convenience from those who really need this.    I am very disappointed with all this and really hope Southwest reconsider this all or nothing policy by setting more strict parameters but still allowing and recognizing this very real need.  

[NicoleAshley]

Hi @jls2662. As you may know, we recently updated our Service Animal Policy (select Trained Service Animals in the left hand margin of the page for full details) to align with recent regulatory changes from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). For travel after March 1, Southwest will only accept service dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified person with a disability. We believe these changes improve the overall Safety of travel for our Customers and Employees and are in alignment with federal laws that no longer require airlines to recognize service animals other than service dogs as defined by the DOT.

As a peer-to-peer support forum, we are not equipped to assist you here, but if you have a specific suggestion or concern, I encourage you to Contact Customer Relations.

Thank you,