by Rowena Mills | Photos courtesy of Kim Kuehler
You are traveling through Tulsa International Airport with
your service dog, comfort animal, or pet. You are about ready to head for the plane, and you have made a last-minute stop at the restroom. But your doggy needs to go too. No, you tell him, he will just have to wait until later. Or will he?
Did you know there are places for your pooch to make a potty stop too? What? Where?
Tulsa International Airport (TIA) has two new indoor pet relief areas available for pets or service animals traveling with their people. The areas are located past security, on each of the concourses. And TIA has one outdoor pet area too. “Indoor and outdoor pet relief areas allow passengers to take care of their furry friends while traveling,” says Kim Kuehler, communications manager of Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust. “We love to let people know how we can help pet owners and their furry loved ones while at the airport. The new indoor pet relief areas have faux grass, disposable bags for pet waste, hand sanitizer, sink, and paper towels.”
Bryan Crook, director of customer experience for Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust, says, “We welcome people to travel through our airport and to fly with their pets because it makes the travel process more fun and pleasurable for many of our passengers. Tulsa International Airport has had the one designated outdoor pet relief area for at least five years now, and it doubles as our public-side service animal relief area (SARA).”
Amenities for Animals
If you do not travel with animals, you might not have noticed pet relief areas at other airports, but they exist.
Crook explains, “Many airports have outdoor and indoor pet relief areas. It is actually a Federal Aviation Administration requirement for most airports, based on passenger enplanement numbers, to have SARAs on the secured side of
the checkpoint. These SARAs then double as pet relief areas. I am unaware of an airport that prohibits pets from using their SARAs.”
Other animals are welcome too. Crook says, “We do not have any special accommodations for cats, rabbits, or other animals, but they can use the existing accommodations.”
He adds, “Animals in the terminal do not have to be in carriers but do need to be on leashes. Service animals, which according to the United States Department of Transportation are only trained and certified service dogs, are allowed to fly free of charge with passengers. Therapy dogs, comfort animals, and pets do not fall into this category, according to USDOT, and the airline can charge for their flights.
“The Department of Transportation doesn’t set a weight limit for service dogs but notes that airlines can require that a service animal fit within the handler’s foot space or on the passenger’s lap. Most important, the DOT recognizes all types of dogs as service dogs and does not allow airlines to set restrictions based on specific
breeds. Service animals do not have to be in a crate. So it is best to reach out to the specific airline you are flying on to find out about any restrictions they have for pets since these can vary among airlines.”
Systematically Spiffy
The new indoor pet areas at Tulsa International Airport are kept scrupulously clean. “The faux grass is cleaned at least daily,” Crook says. “There is a hose sprayer set up that custodians use to wash the grass and rinse off the cleaning agent. This is done in place; the grass is not removed. There is a
flushing system under the grass. Every three hours, the system automatically flushes the floor under the grass and collects that water in a trench drain that is then pumped out by the system.”
Service dogs, comfort animals, and pets are not the only canines in the terminal. The airport also hosts volunteer therapy dogs and bomb dogs.
So next time you and your canine trek through TIA, notice all the four-footed fellows — and check out those facilities.
