Categories: PETS

Dog Bites American Airlines Staffer & Passenger At Denver International Airport

Summary

Service dog Bella was quarantined after biting an airport employee and passenger, categorized as a level five incident.
Despite confusion over Bella’s service status, service animals in training are granted legal protections under ADA laws.
Rise in fake service dogs on flights due to changes in DOT regulations, leading to more incidents involving untrained animals.

A service dog at the Denver International Airport (DIA) has been quarantined following an investigation after it bit two people in April. According to the media team, the dog bit an employee and another passenger.

The incident

According to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DPHE), on April 26th, 2024, at around 11:15, a Belgian malinois named Bella bit two people at the Denver International Airport. One was an American Airlines employee, while the other was a passenger waiting for a flight.

As a result of the incident, the dog was quarantined at the Denver Animal Shelter for 10 days. Bella will be released on May 6th. The owner has claimed that Bella is a service dog, which provides it with some protections.

Speaking on the incident, Tammy Vigil, a DPHE spokesperson, said:

“We were told by Denver International Airport personnel that the owner claimed the dog was a service dog. Our Denver Animal Protection officer did not have that conversation with the owner himself upon impounding the dog, so we can’t say whether or not the dog is a service animal. That said, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ‘service animals in training’ are afforded the same legal protections as fully-trained service animals and generally need to be considered the same in places like the airports and airlines.”

Simple Flying contacted DIA to comment on the situation, and a media spokesperson confirmed the incident but asked that we direct further queries to the Denver Police Department and American Airlines. Simple Flying is waiting for a comment from American Airlines.

Consequences

According to the DPHE, the employee was bitten on the face and lip, while the passenger was bitten on the forearm. Both bites are considered a level four on the Ian Dunbar Dog Bite Scale. However, since the incident involves multiple level four bites, it falls under level five.

Photo: CSWFoto | Shutterstock

According to the Ian Dubar Dog Bite Scale, a dog that causes a level five incident is “simply not safe around people.” Euthanization is recommended for such a dog. However, no verdict has been passed since the ongoing investigation, and it is unclear what event transpired before the attack.

If the dog was provoked or protecting its owner from harm, the result might be different.

Increase in fake service dogs

Many passengers fly with service dogs, and airlines rightfully allow them to do so. Service dogs are highly trained animals and require a lot of stimulation to attack other humans. They are trained extremely early to unlearn aggressive behaviors. Many service dogs are trained to avoid escalation when confronted with violent behavior.

However, in recent years, there has been an uptick in passengers taking pets onboard aircraft while claiming they’re service animals. The reason? Service dogs fly for free. Another reason is that the Department of Transportation (DOT) changed regulations, which separate cervical animals and emotional support animals.

Emotional Service Animals (ESA) require no formal training; anyone can obtain a certificate. The number of delivered ESA certificates increased tenfold between 2002 and 2015 and doubled from 2015 to 2019.

The regulation changes resulted in many pet owners lying to airlines and airport personnel about their dogs being service dogs, leading to a rise in bites and other incidents.