美国国家公共电台 NPR Federal Government May Tighten Restrictions On Service Animal（在线收听）

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The federal government is considering tightening restrictions for certain animals in airline cabins during flights. As NPR's Merrit Kennedy reports, the proposed changes would mean that emotional support animals lose special privileges.

MERRIT KENNEDY, BYLINE: If you've been on a plane recently, you might have noticed that there seemed to be a lot more animals in the cabin. And according to the Department of Transportation, there are also a lot more complaints about them from passengers. Taylor Garland, a spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants, says the union's members have seen an exponential increase in emotional support animals in the last five years. The union believes people who don't actually need their animal for emotional support to travel sometimes abuse the system.

TAYLOR GARLAND: And what it's caused is a number of safety, health and security issues onboard our aircraft, which have led to minor things, like animals loose in the cabin, to very serious safety issues where untrained animals have attacked flight attendants or other passengers or other legitimate service dogs.

KENNEDY: So the union representing flight attendants is applauding the changes. Here's what the Department of Transportation is actually proposing. It would treat service animals helping people with psychiatric disabilities the same as service animals for other kinds of disabilities. Here's Jennifer Mathis from The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

JENNIFER MATHIS: You know, if you use a service animal, service animal should be treated the same whatever type of disability you have. And that's good.

KENNEDY: But she finds other aspects of the proposal troubling. She thinks the way it defines service animal is too narrow. It must be a dog individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability. But Mathis says animals can help people with real disabilities in a real and important way.

MATHIS: Even though it's not specifically trained to do a task.

KENNEDY: The changes would no longer classify emotional support animals as service animals. They'd be considered pets. The proposal would also allow airlines to require a wide range of new paperwork for service animals, like certifying that the animal is in good health and has good behavior and training. Passengers would also need to fill out a form saying the animal can avoid relieving itself during the flight or do so in a way that is sanitary.

Mathis says it could be too hard for people to get on a plane with their service animal if they have to submit all the rigorous forms.

MATHIS: While they may seem reasonable on their face, I think that, you know, the cumulative effect of making people attest to all these things is likely to scare some people off.

KENNEDY: People who may really need an animal's services. The public now has two months to comment on the proposal. Merrit Kennedy, NPR News.

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