Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) will be launching this Friday, April 12th, the regulation that for the first time will allow dogs and other pets to travel on the train and the underground. The railway company will publish this Thursday, April 11th, in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) the new regulation on the access of pets to SFM facilities, trains and subways.

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The SFM regulation that allows dogs and other pets to travel on the train and metro comes into force

This initiative, which was definitively agreed by SFM’s Board of Directors on 25 March, following the end of the public exhibition period and the allegations phase that began last February, introduces the regulation that allows users to access the train and metro with small pets, such as dogs, cats, ferrets and small birds (not poultry).

Among the measures of the regulation, it is established that people accessing trains and subways with pets must use exclusively the last carriage of the train and that dogs must be kept on a leash and muzzle, or in carriers, from their access to SFM facilities; while cats, ferrets and small birds must travel inside specific carriers or receptacles.

All dogs must have the corresponding identification microchip. Likewise, it is established that exotic animals (reptiles, spiders, insects, etc.) and dogs whose breed is included in the list of potentially dangerous dogs are not allowed.

The regulation specifies that guide dogs accompanying blind or visually impaired people are allowed on trains and undergrounds without any restriction; dogs trained for personal assistance and accompanying people with disabilities; and guide dogs in the process of being trained, who must be accompanied by their handlers.

During the public exhibition period, which began in February and ended on March 8th, the public railway company has received two allegations, one of which has been partially accepted. Specifically, it is established that females will not be allowed to travel by train or metro during the rutting period, as proposed by the Plataforma Balear per a la Defensa dels Animals (Baldea).

Thus, on 25 March, at the SFM Board of Directors meeting, the new regulations were approved with an added point, in response to the aforementioned allegation. Subsequently, the management has given the go-ahead for it to be published this Thursday in the BOIB (Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands) and come into force this Friday, 12 April.

As was announced at the start of the new regulations on 8 February, pets will travel free of charge on the train and metro, except in the case of larger animals that cannot use a carrier due to their size, for which a ticket must be paid for. All personal assistance dogs (guide dogs, dogs trained for personal assistance and guide dogs undergoing training) are excluded from the travel pass.

Because of the forthcoming entry into force of this regulation, SFM recommends users avoid peak travel times to facilitate coexistence between users and pets, and to avoid proximity to other users when they feel fear or discomfort in the presence of the animal. The proposal establishes that the distance between the animal carrier and their pet may not exceed half a metre.