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It is always good to see more progress for pet friendliness in America. As more and more empty-nesters, especially baby boomers, add fur children to replace the human children, we are finding that more businesses, apartments, hotels and restaurants are increasingly becoming pet friendly. Commercial air travel and rail have been slow to follow, but now we are seeing progress in those arenas as well.
We have already mentioned the increase in allowing animals to travel by air and rail, but the facilities that serve them have been slow to follow with the exception of some of the major hubs in the United States. Now a recent decision of the United States Department of Transportation moves to change this by requiring all American airports that service over 10,000 passengers each year must offer at least one pet relief area in the post-security area of each terminal.
NBCNews.com has indicated that the legislation means that there will be over 800 of these relief areas in the United States which will cost the DOT an estimated $88 million over the next 20 years.
Airports such as San Diego International, Washington Dulles, Seattle-Tacoma International, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International already have areas designed for passengers flying with service animals. Denver International and Lambert-St.Louis International added Service Animal Relief areas in October, and Los Angeles International added seven indoor pet relief stations in August.
The good news is that the pet relief areas are not just for service animals, since they also are available for therapy dog teams, K-9 security teams and emotional support animals.
Susie and Beau both have smiles on their faces to see more progress being made for pet friendly facilities.
October 29, 2022
