National Pet Travel Safety Day – January 2, 2025

History of National Pet Travel Safety Day

People have traveled with pets almost as long as they’ve had them, or so we suppose. But up until the 1980s, only the richest people took their pets with them wherever they went, for multiple reasons. First, money, and second, only a select few high-end hotels catered to guests with pets in tow. Thirdly, travel was limited to private rail cars or automobiles, limiting pet-friendly movement options for most regular people.

Then, in the late 1980s, 1989 to be precise, a Trans World Airlines (T.W.A.) flight attendant named Gayle Martz decided she wanted to take her pooch with her on the airplane. The airline rules foiled her initial attempts and succeeded in frustrating her completely. Then she hit upon an idea. Her dog, a Shih Tzu, was tiny enough that she could carry it comfortably. She designed a purse that allowed her to carry her dog into the plane and keep it under her seat in the cabin. This soon-to-be-immensely-popular accessory was named the ‘Sherpa Bag’ and became the global standard for airline in-cabin bags for pets.

Martz went on to petition nearly every airline to allow pets on board. When they realized how much pets could boost flyers’ morale, multiple airlines began allowing well-behaved pets on board. Then, in 2001, the European Union introduced a scheme that allowed E.U. member country citizens to travel freely back and forth with approved carriers using special pet passports. Called the “PETS scheme,” it soon expanded to include pets from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The world became a pet owner’s oyster (for the most part).

Travel to certain countries with a pet is still subject to varied restrictions. Guatemala, for instance, bans entry for pets without rabies vaccination, even if they have a pet passport. Hotels and institutions were not far behind in the pet revolution; large chains, smaller B&Bs, everyone opened their doors to pets. They realized something a Starwood study showed: 76% of pet owners are more loyal to chains that allow pets, even if owners don’t travel with pets themselves. As pets become more commonplace across households, pet owners are looking for ways to help keep their animal babies happy and safe as they travel.