Flying Delta? You may have to leave your emotional support turkey at home

Afraid of flying? Can't stand the thought of cruising at 35,000 feet without the soothing presence of your emotional support turkey, trusty comfort-snake or therapy possum?

Starting March 1, you may have some extra paperwork to do if you want to fly Delta.

Delta announced Friday that it plans to get stricter with the requirements for emotional support animals in the cabin because of an uptick in animals biting flight attendants, pooping all over planes, and generally causing mayhem.

"Delta has seen an 84 percent increase in reported animal incidents since 2016, including urination/defecation, biting and even a widely reported attack by a 70-pound dog," the company said in a statement.

In the case in question in June 2017, a man aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta to San Diego was mauled by a Marine's emotional support dog and had to get 28 stitches to repair the damage to his face, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. The man was reportedly attacked twice and could not escape because he was cornered in a window seat.

A passenger's emotional support turkey is pictured here at SFO. Click through the gallery to see pictures of SFO's Wag Brigade, animals trained by the SPCA to comfort travelers. A passenger's emotional support turkey is pictured here at SFO. Click through the gallery to see pictures of SFO's Wag Brigade, animals trained by the SPCA to comfort travelers. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Flying Delta? You may have to leave your emotional support turkey at home 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

Beginning in March, people who want to travel with "psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals" will need to show the airline a signed document saying their pet is able to behave appropriately in the cabin. Passengers already had to provide proof of the animal's good health and current vaccinations and a letter signed by a doctor or mental health professional attesting to the animal's status as a support companion.

Some websites provide the letters for fees of about $150 to $200 without ever seeing patients or their animals in person, the Guardian reported in 2016, leading some to criticize the process as vulnerable to fraud.

The goal with the new rules, Delta says, is "to prevent untrained, sometimes aggressive household pets from traveling without a kennel in the cabin" and keeping passengers and service animals safe, preventing incidents like one, recently, in which a blind woman's service dog was reportedly attacked by an unrestrained emotional support animal at an airport.

Last year, Delta said, employees reported an uptick in aggressive acts like barking, growling, lunging and biting from the service animals, suggesting that not everyone who prints out an emotional support animal certification from the internet actually trains their animal.

Delta estimates it transports about a quarter million emotional support animals each year — and it's not just cats and dogs that people try to bring aboard. Not even close.

"Customers have attempted to fly with comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders and more," the company wrote.

The airline wants to make it clear it does not accept "exotic or unusual" support animals.

That means no hedgehogs, no ferrets, no goats, no spiders, no rodents, no farm poultry, no birds of prey, no sugar gliders, no stinky animals of any kind, no amphibians and no reptiles.

It would seem Delta has (forgive me) had it with these motherf— snakes on a motherf— plane.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter