Hello! I've been flying with Southwest for many years and I wanted to leave a suggestion on the pet policy. Currently the pet policy allows small dogs in the cabin and service dogs. Service dogs are an unregulated entity. Anyone with a disability can train their own service dog and there is currently no legitimate registry for it. Which is great because it offers those who cannot afford a trained service dog to train their own. But not so great because many people will lie to allow their dog to travel.
On the contrary, therapy dogs, which are a legitimate certification through many non-profits. There is a strict evaluation and rules to keep up with vaccinations etc. My therapy dog visits the local children's hospital and provides much needed relief to children going through the toughest times in their lives. We are fully insured with liability insurance. We are even allowed to visit airports to provide therapy to those in stressful situations. We are currently working on getting our crisis response certification where we can visit areas of disaster to comfort those who need it most.
All this and my therapy dog is not allowed on a flight because he is above the weight limit.
I travel home a lot and am forced to spend hundreds of dollars on pet sitting fees or drive 8 hours with my certified therapy dog. I would so happily pay a large pet fee to allow my certified therapy dog on a short flight. I would even buy him his own seat. I would love to travel and volunteer in more places that need therapy dogs!
Please consider adding therapy dogs to the pet policy!
