Diane Bergeron won’t fly alone. The Edmonton woman, who is blind, needs her golden retriever Lucy by her side whenever she travels.

Her seeing eye dog means freedom she would not otherwise have. It also means a lot of pre-planning and paperwork, but in 30 years of flying with a guide dog, it’s never been easier due to recent federal regulations accommodating service animals on flights.

“Having the ability to travel with the dog now, without the hassle, is amazing,” said Bergeron, who also serves as national director of government relations and advocacy with the Canadian Institute for the Blind.

But not everyone is happy riding next to an animal — and sometimes it can be a matter of life or death.

Bill Swan has gone into respiratory failure from being in a house with cats, and has to be extremely vigilant about pet dander when travelling due to asthma.

The federal government ruled in 2011 that airlines must provide five-row buffer zones and effective ventilation to protect allergic passengers from cats, which are the worst offenders for allergy sufferers, but Swan says ensuring his safety can be a painstaking process.

He finds people with pets are often given precedence, and has chronicled some of his frustrations on an online blog.

“All I want to know is there’s going to be a pet, it’s not going to be near me. I want that person to know that I’m on the plane and have a deadly allergy, and I want the staff to know,” Swan said.

“It’s not that I hate pets, I just hate not breathing.”

If he’s aware ahead of time, he can increase his meds or take extra antihistamines before the flight.

People with worse allergies than Swan take blankets or wear high-end air filters on flights, and some can’t travel at all.

“If you have such a severe, deadly allergy to pets, you’re not going to be able to fly anywhere,” he said. “Because (dander) is on people’s clothes, it’s everywhere.”

Noah Farber, executive director for the National Asthma Patient Alliance on which Swan serves as chair, believes people with allergies should have precedence over pets.

“It’s not widely known, but asthma can be a fatal disease; 200-300 Canadians a year die from asthma,” Farber said. “So the risks are significant, particularly if someone has severe asthma.”

Bergeron said she’s never had an issue with Lucy on board. Canada’s one-person, one-fare policy implemented in 2008 means Bergeron gets an extra seat at no extra cost to accommodate Lucy. The dog usually rides at her feet, but giving her extra space makes things more comfortable for everyone involved.

“The flight attendants are fabulous,” she said. “They usually ‘Ooo’ and ‘Ahh’ and get all gaga over the dog.”

Planning Lucy’s bathroom breaks and meal times is challenging, with nowhere to take her to pee on the plane or in airports. Bergeron will typically reduce her canine companion’s food and water intake that day or the night before, and has to make sure layovers give her enough time to take Lucy off site to do her business.

“I got on a plane at Heathrow and had a nine-hour flight to Edmonton and she never stood up once that whole nine hours,” Bergeron said. “She just laid there and basically slept the whole time. She doesn’t fuss. It’s like getting in a vehicle, she has no problems.”

People and pets vie for prominence on planes

Diane Bergeron won’t fly alone. The Edmonton woman, who is blind, needs her golden retriever Lucy by her side whenever she travels.

Her seeing eye dog means freedom she would not otherwise have. It also means a lot of pre-planning and paperwork, but in 30 years of flying with a guide dog, it’s never been easier due to recent federal regulations accommodating service animals on flights.

“Having the ability to travel with the dog now, without the hassle, is amazing,” said Bergeron, who also serves as national director of government relations and advocacy with the Canadian Institute for the Blind.

But not everyone is happy riding next to an animal — and sometimes it can be a matter of life or death.

Bill Swan has gone into respiratory failure from being in a house with cats, and has to be extremely vigilant about pet dander when travelling due to asthma.