People Come Before Pets on the Airplane

In the summer of 2009, most airline companies in Canada reversed a ban prohibiting small animals from a person’s company, thus allowing people who could not live without their (small) pets travel with them wherever they went. An editorial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and cited by CBC is now urging the companies to reinstate the ban because people should always come first before pets and not the other way around.

It’s not so much that these animals occupy too much space, though that too is an issue, as the fact that some people might be allergic to some of these pets should be duly considered when it comes to reinstating the ban. As small dogs, cats and birds can now travel in the same cabin as the passengers, the risk that one of them is allergic and should suffer a severe reaction, especially since they’re in an enclosed space and are to remain with the animal for a longer period of time, is increased, the editorial says.

“Pets travelling by air belong in the cargo hold, not the cabin, where their dander could irritate passengers’ allergies, states an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) released Tuesday. Three top doctors – deputy editor Matthew B. Stanbrook, editor-in-chief Paul C. Hébert, and Thomas Kovesi, a pediatrician at the University of Ottawa – put their names to the editorial, which chastised airlines for putting the preferences of pet owners above the well-being of passengers,” CBC writes of the recently published, scathing editorial.

Since, say, people with an allergy to nuts fall into the category of “disabled” with most Canadian airlines, the issue of having pets in the plane’s cabin has also led to talk of whether the same classification should apply to those who know they suffer from allergies to certain pets. It’s either that or having flight companies reinstate the ban and no longer allow pet owners to bring their pets on board of the plane. After all, the editors say, while everyone understands these owners love their pets as if they were real people, real people is precisely what they’re not.

“The editorial is timed to put pressure on the Canadian Transportation Agency, which is about to rule on whether people with allergies should be considered disabled under the Canadian Transportation Act and appropriately accommodated while travelling. The agency is currently reviewing four complaints from passengers who suffered serious allergic reactions while flying within the past year. Last spring, a Regina passenger flying with WestJet required medical attention after suffering a severe allergic reaction to a dog on board,” the aforementioned publication says.