DOT Ruled to Make Dog Relief Areas Easier for Pets

Pet News: The Days of Taking a Dog Outside in the Airport and Getting Back in Line are Over With New Department of Transportation Ruling for Post-Security Relief

Pet News

If you have ever taken your dog with you to travel you are not alone. In the past few years airports have seen a huge boost in people bringing their dogs for the ride. Therapy dogs, service animals, emotional support pups, K-9 teams, and pets are getting their wings along with their human comrades. Pet news puppies will be soaring.

Dog traffic in airports was so high that the Department of Transportation had to respond and enforce airports building pet relief stations after the security line with a summer deadline.

Before the ruling, if your pet had to “go,” you would need to take your dog outside to an animal relief area, then get back through the security line to make your flight. This will be a thing of the past.

Good Pet News for Dogs Traveling for the Holidays

The official ruling is that airports that serve over 10,000 passengers annually must now offer at least one relief area in the sterile, or post-security area of each terminal. The deadline for construction is set this summer 2017.

With John F. Kennedy having over 128 terminals, and Los Angeles Airport having 156 terminals, this means that there will be over 800 post-security animal relief areas nationwide. This is great pet news.

The cost of these new changes will be about $88 million over the next 20 years.

Trends Say It’s About Time

Many major city airports were already experiencing issues with the amount of dogs that come through the airport daily, and needing to make “business” accommodations.  

Airports in San Diego, Washington-Dulles, Seattle, Minneapolis-St. Paul all had at least one relief station in their terminals before the ruling.

Already in pet news was August 5 which was “National Work Like A Dog Day,” the Los Angeles

International Airport added 7 indoor pet relief stations to the one it already had.

Aim at Convenience

Not only is the aim to convenience passengers, but also help with airport personnel who work alongside dogs.

K-9 teams–part of the airport police, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Department of Agriculture, and the United States Department of Drug Enforcement Agency all regularly bring dogs through the airport.    

The new ruling will make it easier on professional dogs as well as passenger’s dogs to “go.”

Example of What Stations Might Look Like

Pet news earlier this month showed Denver airport unveiling post-security pet relief stations in the center of concourses A, B, and C. The stations had artificial turf flooring, a drainage system, an artificial rock, and baggies & containers for disposal.

Also fun, each station had a pet friendly mural featuring a dog enjoying the outdoors in Colorado, so everyone has something nice to look at while their dog squats.

Stations like the Denver airports’ post-security pet relief areas might look like the ones featured in Colorado.

This is exciting pet news for passengers and our canine children.

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