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Southwest Airlines is formally allowing miniature horses on its planes as service animals

In a policy update this week, Southwest said that three kinds of animal will be allowed on board: dogs, cats, and small horses. The new policy means the airline won't let passengers fly with insects, spiders, rabbits, ferrets, or rodents, which some people have attempted to take in the past.

  • Airlines have struggled to deal with increasing numbers of passengers trying to travel with service or emotional support animals.

Southwest Airlines has finalised its policy on the kinds of animals it will let passengers fly with — and it is formally allowing people to fly with trained miniature horses from next month.

From September 2017, the airline will only let dogs, cats, and miniature horses in the cabin, according to a statement on its website.

The new policy also includes a list of animals that are not eligible to come on board, which features insects, spiders, rabbits, ferrets, or rodents.

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The rule change comes after increasing reports of people trying to bring unusual animals onto planes as service or emotional support animals. The later category is poorly understood, which has led to confusion about what should be allowed.

In January, United Airlines rejected a woman's effort to bring a peacock on a flight as her emotional support bird. Delta airlines changed its policy in January after what they said was an 84% increase in reported incidents with animals like biting and urinating since 2016.

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Delta said that it carries around 700 animals a day and that people have tried to fly with animals like turkeys and snakes.

Southwest's move also comes after a

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While miniature horses will be allowed to travel as service animals, only cats and dogs can be emotional support animals, Southwest said. Emotional support animals do not perform tasks like guiding a person or pushing a wheelchair for their owners and are classed differently from service animals in the US.

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