Flying with Comfort Animals
By Libby Little
Rent-a-Pet In Japan, people are embracing the benefits of spending time with animals for comfort. In downtown Tokyo, Ja La La Café provides cat companionship for roughly $10 an hour. You can come to the café and pet or play with a kitty of your choice. If you are not a fan of cats, companies can find you beetles, ferrets, dogs or rabbits. But the trend goes beyond animal comforts. Companies will also rent you a dad, a relative or a husband to "practice" for your upcoming wedding [source: BBC]. |
People often experience calm when petting a dog or a cat, so it should come as no surprise that animals are now being used in the mental health field as a form of treatment.
Most airlines address these types of animals in their travel guidelines as comfort animals. Comfort animals can include:
- Dogs
- Cats
- Parrots
- Monkeys
Rules and regulations regarding comfort animals vary slightly from airline to airline. While some will treat the animals exactly as they would a service animal, there may be more obstacles if you do not exhibit a physical disability.
In general, you will be required to provide:
- Documentation from a medical professional stating the purpose of the animal, including what benefit you receive from the relationship with the animal (the letter may only be valid for a certain time)
- Proof that the medical professional is licensed
- Proof that you are still receiving care from the medical professional
- Health/rabies/identification documents for the animal
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