Delta just banned 'emotional support animals' on long flights — and science is on the airline's side

Some such animals have caused problems on flights by peeing, defecating, or mauling passengers.
Other airlines are also considering cracking down on support animals and issuing tighter regulations.
Unlike service dogs, "emotional support animals" are an unregulated group.
There's little scientific evidence about what they really do for people.

Emotional support peacocks. Emotional support snakes. Emotional support hamsters.

People have brought all sorts of "support animals" into public places recently, arguing the creatures should be allowed to fly on planes or come into offices because they serve a mental-health purpose.

But the trend has led to a spike in in-flight problems for airlines. Animals have peed, defecated, bit, and in one case mauled people on Delta planes.

When it comes to the science behind the concept of a support pet,

By law, a peacock cannot be a service animal. BusinessInsider

Overall, he said, scientists don't know if such pets do anything "

As such signed letters get more common, some pet owners are using the designation as a way to let their pets fly on planes with them for free.

United has also made its policies more strict, as ABC News previously reported.

Animals can help people feel better, but they have to be trained

People who train and certify dogs to work with patients are worried about the growing number of untrained pets flying on planes.

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Alice Smith, a client services coordinator at the PAWS dog training center in Florida, told Business Insider that untrained pets are giving real service dogs a bad name.

"There are people who just wanna be able to take their dogs with them everywhere, and they go online and buy a vest," Smith said. She added that if owners don't put in the six months to a year required to train an animal, the dog can end up barking and acting out in public.

However, Smith believes dogs can help for people dealing with anxiety and depression. As a pet owner herself, she said she has benefitted from having dogs around when she's upset.

"My dogs have just known it," she said. "They would come over to me, and get close to me, and as soon as I would pet them, I would calm down."

Smith said there are likely many other people who'd benefit from having a furry, well-behaved friend nearby. She said she even fielded calls from students in Florida who were scared about getting on the bus after the school shooting in Parkland and thought a support dog might help. Other kids call the training center because they're getting bullied and want an emotional support dog to help them get through the day safely. Dogs can also help guide their owners to exits in a panic, or just lean into a person to calm them down in a crowd.

"They can feel that dog's pressure, and know the dog's there," Smith said.

But Younggren pointed out that some people are afraid of dogs or allergic to them. For those individuals, a flight alongside an emotional support pet could be an anxiety- or illness-provoking experience.

It boils down to a simple, well-known problem, he said: "People who love dogs think everybody loves dogs."

This post has been updated to reflect Delta's new policies. Jeffrey Younggren, a forensic psychology professor at the University of New Mexico, was at the University of Missouri when this story was first published.

Delta just banned 'emotional support animals' on long flights — and science is on the airline's side

Animals can help people feel better, but they have to be trained

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