United Wouldn't Allow an Emotional Support Peacock on Flight
Peacocks aren't great flyers. They can take short hops on the wing, but they won't fly very far. And the peacock that tried to board a recent United flight didn't either.
According to Live and Let's Fly a woman was attempting to board a recent United flight from Newark (EWR), but she was denied boarding due to her peacock that she claimed was an emotional support animal — even though she reportedly even bought a second ticket for it.
The Jet Set, a travel TV show, actually captured pictures of the peacock near United's check in counter.
"This animal did not meet guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size. We explained this to the customers on three separate occasions before they arrived at the airport," said United in a statement to Fox News.
Delta recently made it tougher to bring service and emotional support animals on flights, requiring documentation to prove that the animal is both necessary, vaccinated and trained. It has seen an 84% increase of incidents with animals that includes attacking, biting, urinating and defecating. The airline is also cracking down on claiming exotic creatures like spiders or ferrets as emotional support animals — starting March 1 they won't be able to fly anymore.
Following in its competitor's footsteps, United also told Fox that its currently reevaluating its support animal policies:
"In our effort to better balance protecting our employees and customers while accommodating passengers with disabilities, we are reviewing our existing policy and plan to share more soon."
Image courtesy of The Jet Set / Facebook.