Delta Air Lines bans pit bulls as support or service animals; critics slam dog ‘stereotype'

Delta Air Lines will limit each passenger to one emotional support animal and will prohibit pit bulls as service or support animals on flights effective July 10.

It’s a further tightening of the Atlanta-based airline’s policy on emotional support and service animals.

Sara Enos, an animal advocate who founded the American Pit Bull Foundation, said she wants Delta to find a better service dog solution.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “I thought they would put a little more effort into this and bring some experts on board prior to making a decision like that."

[LINK: American Pit Bull Foundation]

[LINK: Petition to ban Delta's dog breed ban]

Delta officials said the latest policy changes are due to “growing safety concerns" after two employees were bitten by a passenger’s emotional support animal last week.

The incident occurred in Atlanta during boarding of a flight to Tokyo Narita, and one employee was medically treated on site, according to the airline. The passenger and animal were removed from the flight.

Enos said the ban is breed discrimination.

"It's an individual dog and irresponsible owner issue, not a breed problem,” she said.

Delta officials said when the new policy takes effect, it will no longer accept “pit bull type dogs” as service or support animals.

Last year, a Delta passenger was mauled by an emotional support dog on a flight.

Delta said it carries 700 service or support animals a day. Since 2016, the airline said it saw an 84 percent increase in reported incidents involving service and support animals, including urination or defecation and biting.

"I understand Delta's stance in trying to find the solution,” Enos said. “Unfortunately, they're going about it the wrong way."

Enos said people who pose to have service dogs are the real problem because properly trained service animals wouldn't display aggressive behavior.

“They just don't do that. They’re very predictable,” Enos said. "We use them to train for veterans with PTSD. They make a significant impact."

Enos said she is launching a national dog registry this summer.

The registry would keep a list of verified service dogs so companies such as Delta can easily identify service animals truly trained for the task.

“Anything that's muscular often gets misidentified as a pit bull type dog and that's unfortunately where some of the bite statistics are coming from, too,” Enos said.

Matt Bershadker, CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said Delta's new policy banning pit bulls spreads "false and life-threatening stereotypes."

"Every dog is unique, even dogs within the same breed, and their behavior is influenced by many factors," Bershadker said in a Twitter statement. "Delta Air Lines should resist unwarranted breed prejudice and rescind its breed ban."

Delta's updated service animal policy also limits one emotional support animal per customer per flight.

Cox Media Group