Qantas Airline Lifts Ban on American Staffordshire Terriers on Planes

Let the staffies fly! Qantas airline has decided to change their policy and let American Staffordshire terriers fly after putting a ban on the animals last year.

Dog lovers wouldn't understand why the airline but a ban on staffies when animals such as crocodiles were allowed on board. Staffie lovers took over the Qantas Facebook page and threatened to boycott the airline, calling the ban "discriminatory." There is no ban on the breed in Australia, News.com.au reports.

Pauline Steele, who had a three-year-old American Staff, started a petition to allow the dogs back on board. The petition gained about 7000 signatures.

According to a Qantas spokesperson, the ban had been put in place following cases of staffies destroying their cages and causing damage to a plane. They explained the ban saying, "certain breeds are not permitted to travel on Qantas flights as they are traditionally known to be aggressive or highly agitated animals."

The airline held trials and listened to the demands from pet owners and decided to lift the ban.

"We know that there are many American Staffordshire owners in Australia who love the breed. These new guidelines help meet their needs in terms of being able to transport their pets and our needs in terms of safety," a Qantas spokesperson said.

The dogs must be transported in an airline-approved dog cage r a CR-82 wire mesh reinforced cage, which will prevent the dog from escaping and hurting the aircraft or itself.

To fly with a staffie, a traveler must book the flight through a pet transport agency.

Snug-nose cat and dog breeds are also now allowed to fly on international flights following trials, but passengers must acknowledge possible breathing problems for these breeds. Some of these include Himalayan and Persian cats and bulldog, Pug and Pekingese dogs. These animals were only allowed to fly on domestic routes before.

"Changes to the policy will allow more breeds of dogs and cats safe travel on Qantas. Snub-nose breeds of dogs and cats are very popular pets and we receive many requests for transport, including on long flights," the airline said.

"We obviously want all pets to arrive safe and sound and so with snub-nosed pets we strongly recommend using a cage that is twice the minimum required size to make sure there is plenty of air circulation."