So many people are carrying their pets with them into airline cabins that the thousands of people who have pet allergies are being put at risk, state the authors of an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
About 10 per cent of people have an allergy to animals, and these people should not be forced to share cabin space with dogs and cats, write the authors, who include CMAJ editor-in-chief Dr. Paul Hebert.
"It's understandable that owners prefer to keep their small pets close when travelling and that airlines are keen to compete for their business," the authors write. "But about 1 in 10 people have allergies to animals. Many will have an allergic reaction when they're trapped in an enclosed space, often for hours, close to an animal."
The authors note that a severe, anaphylactic reaction might even require emergency assistance that likely won't be available on a plan travelling at high altitudes.
MedAire, an Arizona-based company that responds to airline health emergencies around the globe, said it had 22 cases involving animals in 2008 and 2009; 16 were in-flight issues relating to passengers or crew with allergies to cats or dogs.
According to the CMAJ editorial, since WestJet began allowing pets into the cabins, pets are now on about 25 per cent of its flights. Last summer, Air Canada changed its policy to allow cats and small dogs to travel in the cabin.
The authors say they have no problem with passengers bringing service animals, such as seeing-eye dogs, on planes. But they note that given how many people are allergic to pets, other furry passengers really should be travelling in cargo.
"The preferences of pet owners should not supersede the well-being of their fellow passengers," the authors write. "Pets can be accommodated comfortably and safely in airplane cargo holds, which is where they belong. Airlines must choose to put the needs of their human passengers first, or be forced to do so."
They say that seating passengers with allergies away from pets is not enough. "Pet dander remains on seats long after the pet and its owner have gone," they note. The constant circulating of air in plane cabins also means the pet dander will move around the cabin.
They note that many airlines, including Air Canada and WestJet, stopped serving peanuts to passengers, following reports of anaphylactic allergic reactions in people who had inhaled peanut dust; keeping pets out of cabins is only logical.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has received several complaints about four-legged travellers. Alexandre Robertson, a senior CTA communications adviser, said three complaints involve Air Canada, and a fourth pertains to both Air Canada and WestJet.
The CMAJ editorial argues that if the agency doesn't rule in favour of the passengers, then the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health should take up the cause.
With reports from The Canadian Press
