Nancy Rosenthal with her service dog, Jamie.
What should you do if you have to evacuate a plane with your service animal or pet? The guidance can be unclear.
Jamie the service dog on a plane.

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Nancy Rosenthal relies on a service dog, Jamie, to help with her mobility issues. But, she recently saw a video of passengers evacuating an American Airlines jet that made her wonder about how she would handle Jamie in such a situation. It was the first time she worried what would happen to her dog during an airplane emergency.

“It dawned on me, holy smokes, what would I ever do with this big giant dog I travel with?” she told me. “It doesn’t look like you just step onto the slide.”

While airplane evacuations are extremely rare, emergencies can be especially harrowing for people with reduced mobility or other disabilities. Rosenthal said she hasn’t received any clear guidance on what to do if she and Jamie ever need to evacuate a plane.

She's asked flight attendants on multiple flights and told me she's gotten a different answer every time.

“One said you have to pick him up like a child and jump with him, one said you have to just leave him. No one is going to leave their animal on the plane,” Rosenthal said. “Or shove them, or jump first and drag them behind. The best advice one of them gave me was ‘hope that whoever sits next to you is willing to help you.’ I have to hope that a friendly, healthy, animal-loving person is willing to risk their life to help me because I can’t get a straight answer from the airlines.”

How service animals get trained

Service animals don’t require specific training certification to travel, according to the Department of Transportation, but most service animals do undergo significant training to accomplish their tasks.

“Trained service animals are pretty calm to begin with, they’re used to different situations, it’s part of their training,” Kiera Mejia, director of sales and marketing for The ARK at JFK, an animal import/export facility, told me.

Mejia said service animals are typically trained extensively to remain calm and focused in various environments.

Rosenthal said her service dog undertook four weeks of training with a professional, as well as more at-home and on-the-job training.

The professional training, with Gravitas Golden Retrievers in Fresno, California, involved teaching Jamie to walk attentively on a leash and ignore distractions in public. Jamie also learned how to remain neutral with children and other animals, and how to settle himself in public.

Subsequently, Rosenthal said she brought him to the airport multiple times ahead of their first flight to help him get further acclimated. Still, she said, she hasn’t had an opportunity to practice evacuations with him.

How to travel safely with a pet or service animal

Whether you’re traveling with a service animal or a pet, Mejia said it’s important to remain calm, even if something unexpected happens.

“If the owner starts getting stressed out, the animal might sense that mood change and get stressed out as well,” she said.

Mejia stressed it’s important for pet owners and service animals alike to make sure their pet is well-behaved and comfortable in unfamiliar environments before bringing them on a plane.

“It’s important that everybody understands that their pet needs to be able to behave well in the environment in the first place and be able to handle situations that might arise during travel,” she said.

Even if you don’t have to evacuate the plane, other emergencies can arise that make travel more difficult for service animals or pets.

Under the Air Carriers Access Act, which governs accessibility at U.S. airlines, companies are required to let service animals travel in the cabin at the owner’s feet or on the owner’s lap, regardless of their size. The ACAA does not require airlines to provide service animals with their own seat, and prohibits service animals from being seated in exit rows or blocking the aisle during a flight.

Mejia said things like flight delays or diversions can be stressful for animals as well, and she recommended packing extra food and water, and making sure the animal’s vaccine records are accessible in case the flight gets diverted to an airport with different entry requirements for animals.

What to do if you have to evacuate with your pet or service animal

If the worst happens and you do have to evacuate, Mejia said try to remain calm for your pet or service animal and bring them with you when you leave the plane.

Rosenthal, who worried that she wouldn’t be able to evacuate with her service dog, said she usually checks in with the flight attendant about what to do with her dog in an emergency before takeoff.

Mejia said passengers traveling with pets or service animals should be sure to communicate what they need on the flight, and especially during an emergency, to make sure they and their furry companions get off the plane safely.

“A pet going down the slide might have nails, so asking for a blanket,” she said. “Ask a flight attendant to identify a passenger who might be willing and able to help you bring the pet down the slide.”

Rosenthal said she also worries about emergency equipment like life vests or oxygen masks not being available for pets in the cabin.

As a retired nurse, she said she’s especially aware of the aging trend of the U.S. population and sees more service animals than ever when she flies.

“I think it's going to become an issue as more people travel with their service dogs,” she said. “They’re more than just family members, we need them.”

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Would you leave your pet behind? The risk of plane emergencies for animals.

Reporting by Zach Wichter, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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