Airline changes rules on puppies, support animals

Amid an increasing number of incidents of emotional support animals behaving badly on flights, Delta Air Lines announced a ban on service and support animals under four months old.

In addition to the new policy affecting puppies and kittens, the airline will also ban emotional support animals on flights longer than eight hours.

The changes, effective Dec. 18, are the latest tightening of policies on service animals and emotional support animals by Atlanta-based Delta.

The growing trend of travelers with emotional support animals on flights has caused problems for airlines.

Delta said it has seen an 84 percent increase in incidents reported involving service and support animals in 2016-2017, “including urination/defecation, biting,” and a mauling by a 70-pound dog.

Some travelers with pets look to avoid airline fees or restrictions on certain breeds by getting documentation for emotional support animals from websites like therapypet.org that offer a letter from a licensed therapist.

Delta this year reported that since 2015, it had seen a 150 percent increase in the number of service or support animals it carries, to about 700 a day.

People have tried to fly with comfort turkeys, sugar glider possums, snakes and spiders. Airline employees have dealt with barking, growing, lunging and biting from service and support animals, according to Delta, which says on it website: “Any animal other than a dog or cat will be evaluated on case-bycase basis.”

Last month, a Delta passenger sat in his seat on a plane and ended up with dog feces on his shoes and pants, after an emotional support animal became ill on a previous flight.

Delta said its new ban on service

or support animals under four months old aligns with the CDC vaccination policy. The airline said the limit on emotional support animals on long flights “is consistent with the principles outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.

”These updates support Delta’s commitment to safety and also protect the rights of customers with documented needs — such as veterans with disabilities — to travel with trained service and support animals,” said Delta senior vice president of corporate safety, security and compliance John Laughter in a writ- ten statement.

The new policy takes effect for tickets booked Dec. 18 or later. Regardless of booking date, it will also take effect for flights Feb. 1 or later. Delta said it will contact customers to adjust reservations if the policy affects them.

Some of Delta’s previous policy changes have prompted criticism from groups representing people who use ser- vice animals.

While service animals are specially trained for tasks, an emotional support animal can be a dog or cat whose mere presence is comforting.

Emotional support animals are not recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which allows people to bring service dogs into pub- lic places such as restaurants and stores.

However, the federal Air Carrier Access Act requires airlines to accommodate emotional support animals, which are lumped into the broader category of service animals. The DOT in May began taking public comments as it consid- ers changing regulations of ser- vice animals and emotional support animals on flights.

Over the last year, Delta has limited what qualifies as an emotional support animal that passengers can travel with, and has increased documentation requirements.

Delta in early 2018 said it would require those traveling with service or support animals to submit veterinary health forms or immunization records online 48 hours in advance. But after criticism from the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind that the restrictions “violate the principle of equal access” for those with disabilities, Delta relaxed the documentation requirement for service animals. But for emotional support or psychiatric service animals, the forms still must be submitted online in advance.

In July 2018, Delta began prohibiting pit bulls as service or support animals on flights and began limiting each passenger to one emotional support animal. Bloomberg News

Whole Foods Market, Amazon.com Inc.’s grocer that has spurned artificial flavors and antibiotic-laden meat, says it’s now working to remove a cancer-linked chemical from some of its food packaging.

The company made the announcement on Tuesday, coinciding with a study that found it ranked worst among five U.S. grocery chains in a survey of packaging for take- out food and bakery items. The development highlights how chemicals known as PFAS (“pee-fas,” or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are drawing greater attention from consumers. The substances are also the target of renewed scrutiny from the Environmental Protection Agency this year.

The policy change also shows how companies like Whole Foods, which has built its brand on selling natural and healthy products and maintains a list of unacceptable items, can still struggle to live up to their lofty ide- als across their supply chain.

“Whole Foods Market intro- duced compostable containers to reduce our environmen- tal footprint, but given new concerns about the possible presence of PFAS, we have removed all prepared foods and bakery packaging highlighted in the report,” the company said in an email. “We’re actively working with our suppliers to find and scale new compostable packaging options.”

Watchdog groups Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and Toxic-Free Future surveyed 78 items from five grocers. They found high levels of fluorine in five of the 17 items tested at Whole Foods — four of which were take-out containers for its salad and hot food bar. These items have been removed from Whole Foods Market, the company said in an email.

The presence of fluorine is a sign that the items were likely treated with a type of PFAS, according to the study. The concerns around the chemicals are multiple: They may migrate to food held in the containers and can linger for a lengthy period in the human body. Some types have been shown to hamper the immune system or promote cancer. While somevarieties have yet to be tested, those that have been examined show problems, scientists say. Because they never degrade, packaging send to landfills and compost can end up contaminating soil and water.

3M Co., a manufacturer of the chemicals, declined to immediately comment. The company has said in the past that the chemicals are safe at the levels usually found.

Other grocers, including Albertsons, Kroger, and Ahold Delhaize NV, the owner of the Food Lion and Stop & Shop, also had fewer items that tested positive. These were usually deli or bakery papers. Trader Joe’s was the only company that had zero items.

PFAS are widely used in waterproof or stain-proof fabrics, electronics, Teflon manufacturing, and 3M’s Scotchgard. The substances help prevent grease from soaking through paper in food contact materials.