Our dog Penny is family — not cargo. Animals die when airlines treat them like objects.

Suitcases are inanimate objects. They can be roughly handled and dragged on broken wheels through all weather extremes, while experiencing no emotion or distress. I’ve never met a person who views a suitcase as part of her family. But the vast majority of Americans — 95% according to a 2015 Harris poll — do consider their dogs, cats and other animal companions to be family members. So why do airlines still transport animals like luggage?

Last December, a French bulldog named Bruno was found dead inside his carrier at Australia's Sydney Airport after airline employees allegedly left him on a hot tarmac for 40 minutes before boarding. The airline's spokeswoman argues Bruno waited in a shaded area. Just a few months later, a dog died in a plane’s cargo hold on a long-haul Air France-KLM flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles. In May, a Miami Air International plane skidded off a runway in Florida and into a nearby river. Two cats and one dog drowned in the lower regions of the plane. Another cat, who was accompanying the human guardian in the main cabin, survived by exiting with the other passengers. 

These incidents of needless death and apparent airline neglect are examples of the dozens of deaths that happen each year. They were fresh in my mind as my family and I prepared to move from California to Southeast Asia this fall. Like many people, we consider our dog, a matronly 12-year-old mutt named Penny, to be a member of our family. She is also my young daughter’s primary companion, and both rely on me to keep them safe. 

Airlines' arbitrary restrictions 

The Department of Transportation estimates that 2 million animals fly in the cargo hold each year, but those numbers don't include animals who are flying outside of a family, like animals being sent to laboratories.

For people traveling with animals, worry-free options are limited. If an animal is tiny enough — generally about 20 pounds or less — then many airlines will allow passengers to confine them to a small crate tucked under the seat. Just imagine the outcry if such restrictions were placed on other supposedly disruptive family members, like children screaming during takeoff. 

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Animals who don’t meet airlines’ requirements are often only allowed in the cargo hold, where they may suffer severe anxiety and risk injury or death. Airlines’ arbitrary size and species restrictions make travel with animals so daunting that some people resort to rehoming their companions, or worse yet, abandon them entirely.

A small 2003 study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science identified moving to a new location as the top reason why both dogs and cats are relinquished to shelters.

Airlines are comparatively more accommodating of animals who assist passengers in need of emotional support. The National Service Animal Registry (NSAR), a site where human guardians can obtain emotional support animal (ESA) certificates, reports that the number of animals it registered has increased by 200% since 2015.

Delta Air Lines reports that between 2016 and 2018, the number of ESAs on its aircraft increased 86%, to 250,000. 

Despite critics' claims of fake support animals, this increase aligns with the significant increase in the number of Americans struggling with mental health or suffering from serious psychological distress. 

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The Department of Transportation announced in August that, in contrast with other animal passengers, airlines cannot categorically refuse to transport ESAs based on flight length or weight limits, nor prohibit them based on the number of other service animals on the plane. 

According to the NSAR, airlines in the United States are not permitted to charge a  passenger a fee for traveling with an animal companion if the passenger has ESA documentation. 

Be a responsible guardian when flying

I am grateful that I met the criteria to be able to bring Penny with me on my flight, but entering another country with an animal remains complicated, even with an ESA letter in hand. Importation rules vary widely by country, and securing the necessary government approval stamps is a nerve-wracking experience.

Airlines make the process even harder with their own requirements. In the months before my flight to Vietnam, I exchanged 28 emails and nearly a dozen phone calls with airline representatives just to secure written approval for Penny to fly with the rest of her family. 

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The attendants on my flight told me that Penny was the first canine passenger the crew had encountered on a transpacific route, so the crew members did their best to accommodate us, even pointing toward the back section of the plane where we could lay out pee pads. Airlines that make such efforts to accommodate passengers’ needs deserve praise, but airplanes are currently designed and operated with only humans' needs in mind. Rolling out an absorbent urination pad next to the plane’s noisy escape hatch was awkward, but I appreciated that Penny had that option. 

Not every animal enjoys being in large crowds or enclosed spaces; responsible guardians need to determine whether their companions have personalities suited to long-distance travel. For those animals who can handle the bustling atmosphere, airlines should provide affordable accommodations to keep all members of a family — human and otherwise — safely together in an airplane’s cabin. Consumers would no doubt profitably reward airline companies for such compassionate travel policies.

In elementary school, every child is taught how to distinguish between a person, place or thing. Friends and family are persons. Houses and schools are places. Clothes and backpacks are things. Airlines should stop treating animal companions like things, and start honoring them as equally cherished members of the family.  

Ryan Huling is an animal advocate from California. He is a writer with Sentient Media and formerly a director of a U.S.-based animal protection organization. He is currently a consultant for intergovernmental agencies on sustainable foods and lives in Hanoi, Vietnam.