American Airlines cracks down on service animals

American Airlines is making more changes to its policies and procedures regarding service and emotional support animals. With the recent story of a 5-year-old getting injured by an "emotional support" pit bull and other headline-making incidents, several airlines, including United and Delta, have already tightened restrictions on their animal policies. In a release Friday, American outlined their changes, which include the requirement of a veterinary health form that lists the animal's vaccination details. Animals under 4 months will also no longer be permitted to travel. The airline states a service animal must be a trained dog, cat or "in some limited circumstances" a miniature horse, whereas emotional support animals are limited only to either a dog or cat. A customer may bring only one animal on board. These changes will go into effect April 1. The airline stated the goal of the changes is to "protect customers who have a legitimate need as well as the team members who work every day to keep all customers safe."<br/>