Canadian doctors’ call to ban pets from flights raises hackles

Pet owners are none too pleased with the Canadian Medical Association's call to ban pets from the passenger cabins of Canadian airlines.

The CMA passed a resolution calling for the ban at its meeting this week in St. John's, contending small cats and dogs now allowed on flights present a serious threat to other passengers who have allergies. Exceptions would be made for certified service animals.

Reaction hasn't been slow in coming.

"If pets should travel in cargo then so should smokers," says a dog-owner with the handle Mongoose, commenting on the CBC's report on the ban recommendation.

"Their cloud of vile, poison-laden stench travels much further than the allergens from my dog. And I can give my dog a bath before the flight to reduce the allergens on her coat; washing a smoker is pointless, everything they own is permeated with that filth."

PO'd in Edmonton suggested maybe airlines should list pet-friendly flights, the way hotels set aside pet-friendly rooms.

"How 'bout people who don't wash their hands after going to the toilet?" tweeted Dhalia Kurtz.

Another tweet said pets should be barred from the cabin only if airlines stop handling them as baggage. Another comment to the CBC story agreed, recalling two relatives whose pet flew in cargo, only to become "lost, just like luggage," and endorsed more pet-friendly flights.

But the doctors also got support for their proposal. Pets belong in cargo, many said.

"Anyone who thinks that an animal is more important than a child or any other human being needs to get their head examined . . . " NUNorthof60 commented on the CBC report.

But commenter boumchakala, who's allergic to animals, rejected the proposed ban: "I have worked 10 years in an emergency department and I have never seen an anaphylactic reaction to house pets."

Pet owners apparently have no need to worry their furry little pals will be banished back to cargo.

CBC reported WestJet has no plans to ban them from its flights, saying the planes' air filters are good at screening out allergens and that passengers have the option of taking different, petless flights. Air Canada banned pets in 2006 but rescinded the policy three years later.

(CP Photo)