United Airlines announced Wednesday it will resume carrying dogs and cats in its cargo hold with a slight revision to its policies—the airline will ban 21 different dog breeds and four cat breeds that tend to do poorly under travel stress or heat.
Pit Bulls, Bulldogs and Belgian Malinois are among the breeds banned, along with the Lhasa Apso, Shih-Tzu and Boston Terrier.
Pets that fly will now have to undergo certification by a veterinarian.
Old Town Animal Care Center Dr. Anthony Kremer said he still has some reservations about flying pets as cargo.
“The bottom line is the conditions pets could be subjected to on an airline… (in) very cold temperatures, very hot temperatures…really are going to be unsafe for any pet,” Kremer said.
The changes are a reaction to a series of embarrassing incidents with pets, including one who died after being ordered to be placed in an overhead bin.
“At this time, unless that pet was sitting between my legs on that flight, I would have a hard time taking my own pet on a flight,” Kremer continued.
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The airline stated that “(it is) committed to making significant improvements in (its) program and adhering to the best practices of animal comfort, well-being and travel on behalf of (its) customers and their pets."
The Wrobel family is planning a vacation trip to Poland and they said their Yorkie Gustav will be flying inside the cabin.
“I really do believe it’s safer in the cabin…except I will not put him in carry-on luggage,” said Gustav’s owner Matthew Wrobel.
The Wrobels say they are playing it safe with Gustav.
“It’s going to be seven hours flight,” he said. “So it’s going to be interesting.”
The following is a list of all the dog and cat breeds banned by the airline:
Dog Breeds:
-Affenpinscher
-American Bully
-American Pit Bull Terrier/Pit Bull
-American Staffordshire Terrier/"Amstaff"
-Belgian Malinois
-Boston Terrier
-Boxer
-Brussels Griffon
-Bulldog (American, English, Old English, Shorty, Spanish Alano, Spanish, Alano Español)
-Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
-Chow Chow
-English Toy Spaniel/Prince Charles Spaniel
-Japanese Chin/Japanese Spaniel
-Lhasa Apso
-Mastiff (American, Boerboel, South African, Bullmastiff, Ca de Bou/, Mallorquin,Cane Corso/Italian, Dogo Argentino/Argentinian Mastiff, Dogue de Bordeaux/French Mastiff, English Mastiff, Fila Brasileiro/Brazilian Mastiff/Cao de Fila, Indian Mastiff/Alangu, Kangal/Turkish Kangal, Neapolitan Mastiff/Mastino Napoletano, Pakastani Mastiff/Bully Kutta, Pyrenean Mastiff, Presa Canario/Perro de Presa Canario/Dogo Canario/Canary Mastiff, Spanish Mastiff / Mastin Español, Tibetan Mastiff, Tosa/Tosa Ken/Tosa Inu/Japanese Mastiff/Japanese Tosa)
-Pekingese
-Pug (Dutch, Japanese)
-Shar-Pei/Chinese Shar-Pei
-Shih-Tzu
-Staffordshire Bull Terrier/"Staffys"
-Tibetan Spaniel
Cat Breeds:
-Burmese
-Exotic Shorthair
-Himalayan
-Persian
