Pets on Amtrak - New Law in Congress

There are some rather long domestic flights possible within the US too though, so I guess the same applies (and delays could occur which would lead to similar situations).

Here's another great reason not to go any further with the pets-on-Amtrak "trainwreck":

http://www.viralnova.com/what-happened- ... o-know-it/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A 2 year old mastiff died because UAL's super-awesome pet safety guarantee was completely ignored by UAL staff. Here are some neat quotes:

We have since found out from United employees that at no time in Houston was BamBam ever in a/c. He was removed from the plane, set under the wing on the tarmac until a luggage cart came for him

We have now learned that every 9 days a pet dies on a commercial airline

Unless you are prepared to take the exact same chance with your pet as with your bag, do not fly your pet on a commercial airline.

Assuming the above stats and story are true, which I tend to at least somewhat believe, we can be ready for the PR joker from last week's Crescent "lost contact" derailment to put out a press release about a "canine with a suspended heartbeat situation". We all know what "suspended" means in Amtrak-ese... (read: Sunset East)

Monty Pythons dead parrot sketch comes to mind.

I hope they do let pets on the train. My Labrador, Zoe is more civilized than 90% of the human passengers.

Engineer Spike wrote:I hope they do let pets on the train. My Labrador, Zoe is more civilized than 90% of the human passengers.

Yeah but for everyone one of you there's thousands of entitled morons with poorly trained pets. It's a bad idea and it will just make the Amtrak coach travel that much more unbearable. You thought that guy behind you eating cheetos as loud as humanly possible was bad? Wait till you meet his dog, or should I say, hear and smell it.

I think this will only lead to a degradation of service. The coaches will smell like dog, the fabric seats will hold the smell unlike the vinyl seats commuter railroads use, as they are much easier to clean. I also really don't see how there is even room for the dogs in coach except in the handicap accessible areas. They'd either be laying in the aisle which is a tripping hazard or on the floor by the person's feet. I don't think another paying customer would appreciate having a huge dog taking up their foot room unless the dog owner is willing to buy that other seat. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, and have one myself, I just don't see it being a good fit for Amtrak.

What about people with pet allergies? How will Amtrak accommodate them?

BandA wrote:What about people with pet allergies? How will Amtrak accommodate them?

They can't. This bit of driftwood has no chance of passing.

25Hz wrote:

BandA wrote:What about people with pet allergies? How will Amtrak accommodate them?

They can't. This bit of driftwood has no chance of passing.

Same way the transit operators and airlines currently do.

MattW wrote:

25Hz wrote:

BandA wrote:What about people with pet allergies? How will Amtrak accommodate them?

They can't. This bit of driftwood has no chance of passing.

Same way the transit operators and airlines currently do.

Or how Amtrak addresses service animals?

"However, service animals are permitted in all areas where passengers are allowed."

Full description at: http://www.amtrak.com/service-animals-and-pet-policy

Service animals are trained to be very well-behaved though. Handling passengers' service animals and passengers' pets are conpletely different animals (heh).

deathtopumpkins wrote:Service animals are trained to be very well-behaved though. Handling passengers' service animals and passengers' pets are conpletely different animals (heh).

Agree, but how does Amtrak address the allergy issue, which is common to service versus pet dogs? For example:

Passenger with service dog in seat XXX (or room YYY) detrains, there or a stop or two later a passenger with an allergy boards and occupies the same seat or room.

Ken, you make a good point but I'd counter that there's a lot of establishments out there that somehow deal with that issue. For example - a Starbucks, a library, or a hotel lobby all have upholstered seating and exceptionally transient-oriented customers (IE no assigned seating or records of who sat where). Thus those establishments must face the same challenge, which might consist of having a good insurance policy.

Ken W2KB wrote:

deathtopumpkins wrote:Service animals are trained to be very well-behaved though. Handling passengers' service animals and passengers' pets are conpletely different animals (heh).

Agree, but how does Amtrak address the allergy issue, which is common to service versus pet dogs? For example:

Passenger with service dog in seat XXX (or room YYY) detrains, there or a stop or two later a passenger with an allergy boards and occupies the same seat or room.

They can't. Which is why I don't think it's a good idea to allow pets on trains. It's a moot point regarding service animals though, considering I'm pretty sure they're required by law to allow service animals on.

Ken W2KB wrote: Agree, but how does Amtrak address the allergy issue, which is common to service versus pet dogs? For example:

Passenger with service dog in seat XXX (or room YYY) detrains, there or a stop or two later a passenger with an allergy boards and occupies the same seat or room.

One approach to control the allergy issue is to have a pet car. Regionals have a quiet car and a business class car. So designate one car on the train as the pet car for those bringing small pets in cages. Of course, there are limitations in that what happens if someone with an allergy gets on a full train where the only open seats are in the pet car? How thoroughly would the pet car be cleaned and vacuumed when it is switched from use as a pet car to a regular coach car? Also, having all the pets in 1 car could lead to a lot of barking dogs and hissing cats if people can't calm their pets.