Rein in pooches on planes

The tragic and unnecessary demise of Kokito the French bulldog earlier this month touched Americans in their collective nerve center. We are a country that loves dogs, and word that a beloved canine died after being forced into an overhead bin on a United Airlines flight horrified us.

As protestors held a “Dog In” at LaGuardia Airport over the weekend, New York Sen. Marisol Alcantara presented a pet passenger Bill of Rights of sorts, called “Kokito’s Law.”

Indeed, Kokito was wronged and United Airlines has a problem when it comes to canines surviving flights — they lost 18 dogs last year — but the real issue is why so many dogs are on airplanes.

The simple answer is that people are certifying their animals as service dogs, emotional support dogs and therapy dogs with a few clicks of the mouse and a modest onetime fee on a number of websites, and trusting that the airlines won’t scrutinize their legitimacy for fear of a lawsuit. It’s working.

Delta Airlines estimates there are 700 support animals on flights every day. That’s almost 250,000 annually. The majority of these are dogs like Kokito, but according to the Delta website, “Customers have attempted to fly with comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders and more.”

Sensible people can agree that we do not need spiders and turkeys on planes, but dog lovers — the major offenders — need to make some sacrifices. It’s time — with the exception of those assisting people with medical needs — to get the pooches off the planes.