Emotional support animals like ferrets and spiders will be banned from American Airlines


Nervous travelers will soon have to rely solely on mini pretzels to quell any flight anxiety.
American Airlines has announced new restrictions on emotional support animals that can be brought aboard flights, banning hedgehogs, reptiles, insects, and other animals.
Starting on July 1, the airline will tighten its requirements on which animals can come into the cabin. Trained service animals will still be allowed, but emotional support animals like ferrets, goats, snakes, sugar gliders, waterfowl, spiders, and "animals with tusks" will be considered a safety or public health risk.
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A growing number of travelers have begun bringing support animals on flights, reports The Hill. Between 2016 and 2017, the number of customers with support animals reportedly increased by 40 percent. But an American Airline executive said the company needed to crack down a bit because of "some incidents in the past," saying the new policy was to "make sure that the safety of everyone, including support animals, is protected."
So you'll have to leave your support spider at home — but don't worry, if properly trained, you can still bring your miniature horse aboard.
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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