Many years ago, when I was still a fledgling veterinary student, my boyfriend (now husband) and I regularly traveled back and forth across the country with our two dogs.
They were very energetic, tightly-wound Australian shepherds — who were basically children to us.
Locking them into crates and watching them get loaded into the belly of the airplane caused me an extraordinary amount of anxiety.
Would they be scared? Would the ice that we had carefully frozen into their travel dishes be drinkable if they got thirsty? Would they arrive at my destination as planned?
It was a fitful travel experience, to say the least. Fortunately they always arrived in one piece, happy to see us, as usual.
Traveling with pets was unusual at that time — I never saw dogs or cats in the airport other than my two nutty pups (trust me, I was looking!) Since then, traveling with animals of all types has become commonplace. Frequent fliers are carting along their precious pets on trips both near and far.
The designation of Emotional Support Animal, given to animals by a physician or licensed therapist, allows owners to bring their pet with them on the flight without having to stow them in cargo.
Being an ESA is not reserved for just your run-of-the-mill pet. There have been numerous exotic ESAs reported on airlines, including pigs, turkeys, snakes, marmosets, goldfish, tarantulas, miniature horses, and even a peacock!
Due to the spike in exotic ESAs being disruptive on flights, many of these species have now been banned.
(In 2021, a federal law was passed that banned Emotional Support Animals from flying free or uncaged in the cabin. Flying with animals is still allowed, but their owners will pay a fee to do so. Service animals — those that perform service such as detecting low blood sugar, impending seizures, or assisting the vision-impaired — are still allowed free in the cabin during flights.)
Flying with dogs and cats is still universally accepted, but it isn’t as simple as just showing up at the airport with them in tow. Getting from point A to point B may take a great deal of planning, much of it well in advance.
You will need to inform that airline that you will be traveling with an animal, and you will also need to acquire a health certificate from your veterinarian. Depending on where you are traveling, the health certificate process can be very simple or very complex.
If you plan on taking Fido to Hawaii, you’ll need to plan roughly six months in advance. The state of Hawaii requires rabies antibody testing (which can take months), as well as waiting periods, quarantines, and specific tick prevention medicine.
If you are planning on taking Fifi to Ireland, you’ll need a special health certificate to be issued by your local vet and then endorsed by a second, specialized USDA veterinarian. After this is completed, you’ll need to return to your local vet for tapeworm medicine prior to travel.
If you want to take Fluffy to Australia — perhaps I can speak on behalf of your veterinarian and urge you to just… not.
You see, this process is not only complicated for you and your pet, but it’s also quite stressful for the veterinary staff issuing the health certificate.
We are fretting over each and every detail, following the guidelines set forth by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website, as well as those delineated by the destination government as well.
Sometimes these don’t match, and sometimes the timelines get screwy, and sometimes antibody testing gets delayed, or flights get changed.
Please do your vet a favor and schedule an office visit to discuss your travel plans well in advance of your trip. For detailed information, you should also visit the USDA pet travel website, https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel.
Travel can be extremely stressful, but I reliably feel that stress disappear when I see a sweet golden retriever wagging through the terminal, or hear a soft meow from the row behind me on the plane.
I love that animals are accompanying their humans all over the country, and beyond. I hope that someday, while I am traveling, I will be able to whip out my life list and finally cross off the elusive emotional support peacock.
Dr. Hilary Quinn is a small animal veterinarian in Santa Barbara. She owns and operates Wilder Animal Hospital, and shares her own home with three humans (her husband and two kids) as well as two rowdy dogs, a very calm kitty, two fish, and six chickens. Contact her at news@noozhawk.com.