Group Questions Flight Rules for Service Dogs

WASHINGTON (CN) – Airlines are allowed to require medical documentation and 48 hours’ notice before permitting a passenger to bring a psychiatric service dog into the seating area of a plane, according to a recent regulation challenged by the Psychiatric Service Dog Society.In a petition to change the Transportation Department’s new regulation, the advocacy group argues that other types of service dogs do not have such requirements, that updated medical documentation can be expensive, and that a person may not know 48 hours ahead of time that he or she needs to fly. The petition also points out that the Transportation Department does not have reason to believe flyers will abuse the system to get regular pets onto flights, which was the impetus for the rules.     The Transportation Department seeks comment on the petition.     Click the document icon for this and other regulations.