United announced on Tuesday that it will be banning future transport of more than 40 breeds of dogs and certain cats in the cargo hold “out of concern for adverse health risks”, the airline said in a statement.
This follows after the highly publicized and criticized death of a bulldog named Kokito aboard one of its flights that caused the airline to face a barrage of criticism on social media. The policy goes into effect on June 18, and many short-nosed or snub-nosed dogs won’t be allowed to fly in the plane’s lower compartment. The policy also bans bigger, strong-jawed dogs. The banned breeds currently listed are:
- Affenpinscher
- American Bully
- American Pit Bull Terrier/Pit Bull
- American Staffordshire Terrier/”Amstaff”
- Belgian Malinois
- Boston Terrier
- Boxer
- Brussels Griffon
- Bulldog
- American Bulldog
- English Bulldog
- French Bulldog
- Old English Bulldogges
- Shorty Bulldogs
- Spanish Alano/Spanish Bulldog/Alano Espanol
- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
- Chow Chow
- English Toy Spaniel/Prince Charles Spaniel
- Japanese Chin/Japanese Spaniel
- Lhasa Apso
- Mastiff
- American Mastiff
- Boerboel/South African Mastiff
- Bullmastiff
- Ca de Bou/Mallorquin Mastiff
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- Cane Corso/Italian Mastiff
- Dogo Argentino/Argentinian Mastiff
- Dogue de Bordeaux/French Mastiff
- English Mastiff
- Fila Brasileiro/Brazilian Mastiff/Cao de Fila
- Indian Mastiff/Alangu
- Kangal/Turkish Kangal
- Neapolitan Mastiff/Mastino Napoletano
- Pakastani Mastiff/Bully Kutta
- Pyrenean Mastiff
- Presa Canario/Perro de Presa Canario/Dogo Canario/Canary Mastiff
- Spanish Mastiff / Mastin Espanol
- Tibetan Mastiff
- Tosa/Tosa Ken/Tosa Inu/Japanese Mastiff/Japanese Tosa
- Pekingese
- Pug
- Dutch Pug
- Japanese Pug
- Shar-Pei/Chinese Shar-Pei
- Shih-Tzu
- Staffordshire Bull Terrier/”Staffys”
- Tibetan Spaniel
United Airlines partnered with American Humane to devise the new rules. Their explanation for the ban was provided to NPR in an email as follows:
“American Humane will be performing a top-to-bottom examination of every aspect of air travel affecting the health and welfare of animals, and making recommendations for changes and adjustments to United’s service,”
In addition to the permanent ban throughout the year, United has stated that it will temporarily ban pets traveling to Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Calif., and Phoenix and Tuscon, Ariz., between May 1 and Sept 30, in order to protect pets from extreme heat conditions.
The Airline has been under fire recently for the numerous pet deaths related to transport aboard its aircraft.
