Shelter Dog Meal Donation Count:

Learn More

Delta Continues Pit Bulls Ban Despite Department of Transportation Order

By: Molly Weinfurter
Molly Weinfurter is a writer for iHeartDogs, and she’s passionate about helping animals in need. She volunteers for Bailing Out Benji and a local dog rescue.Read more
| September 27, 2019

Most people strongly believe that every person should be treated equally. So, why doesn’t everyone feel the same about every dog? There are so many dogs that are discriminated simply because of their breed.

Certain stereotypes can cause a sweet dog to be labeled as “aggressive,” and it’s just not fair! People will often judge a dog before they really get to know them. Now, Delta airlines is adding to this unfair judgement and refusing to listen to reason.

Delta recently announced that they will allow service animals and emotional support animals on flights longer than 8 hours. However, the rule does not apply if that dog is a Pit Bull. Sadly, Pit Bulls are not allowed on Delta even if they are a service dog. So, of course, the announcement upset many dog lovers, especially those looking to travel with their Pit Bull.

The breed was first banned over a year ago on Delta flights. Now, even though they are more lenient on some of their other dog rules, they refuse to change their Pit Bull policy. The CEO of the Humane Society reported that is rule was discriminatory, but Delta did not seem to care.

“The safety of our people is paramount. In 2018 alone, more than 40 instances of aggressive animal behavior occurred aboard a Delta aircraft,” claimed Allison Ausband, Delta’s Senior Vice President for In-Flight Service.

However, Ausband’s statement doesn’t even specifically link these aggressive instances to Pit Bulls. If a human child were to act aggressive on a flight, they wouldn’t ban children from airplanes. So, why do they ban dogs? It is unlikely that anything will even positively change for the airline after banning Pit Bulls. 

Also, if someone has a Pit Bull for a service dog, they are out of luck flying with Delta. Service animals are in place to benefit their humans, so some people can’t fly without them. Because of this, Delta is not only discriminating against a dog breed, but also against the people that need those dogs to survive.

The U.S. Department of Transportation released a statement that forbids airlines from banning dogs based on their breed. However, Delta is still trying their best to stand their ground.

“We will never compromise on safety, and we will do what is right for the health and safety of our customers and employees,” stated John Laughter, Delta’s Senior Vice President for Corporate Safety, Security, and Compliance.

Some airlines are actually allowing emotional support horses on their flights now. So, if you can bring a miniature horse in the cabin with you, it seems logical that any dog breed should be allowed as well.

So, if you love to travel with your dog, Delta might not be the best option for you. Even if your dog is not a Pit Bull, by flying with Delta, you’re still supporting a company that discriminates against dogs. Consider that next time you need to book a flight.

H/T: people.com

Recent Articles

Interested in learning even more about all things dogs? Get your paws on more great content from iHeartDogs!

Read the Blog

Loading Checkout...

United StatesClose
Flag of United States
Powered by
duty and tax information for United States

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue without supporting us

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).