Des Moines airport gets pass on indoor dog bathroom

The Des Moines International Airport won’t have to build an indoor animal bathroom, after all.

This summer, airport officials begrudgingly announced that to comply with new federal rules they would have to add a special room for service animals to relieve themselves inside the terminal. The cost was estimated at nearly $100,000.

But the airport found an alternative. It built a grassy area outside the terminal where service dogs could relieve themselves, and by getting a service animal organization to endorse the plan, the airport got a pass from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The small fenced area is next to the airport parking garage. It is complete with a fake fire hydrant.

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Paws & Effect, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that pairs service dogs with veterans and disabled children, announced Tuesday it supported the Des Moines airport’s plan for an outdoor relief area. Executive Director Nicole Shumate said service dogs are trained to go six to eight hours between bathroom breaks so owners should have plenty of time to take their dogs outside the terminal.

“I think it is perfectly reasonable with the size, with the traffic, with the number of passengers we have in Des Moines,” she said.

The outdoor dog bathroom cost about $4,000, airport Executive Director Kevin Foley said.

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Airport leaders had scoffed at the notion of building an enclosed bathroom for service animals. In addition to the cost, it would have required the removal of about a dozen seats in the terminal’s already cramped boarding area. Foley said adding a service animal bathroom doesn’t make much sense because, at the relatively small airport, is feasible to take an animal outside and return through security in about 20 minutes.

Under the new requirements, airports must also install lactation rooms for nursing mothers. Foley said the airport supports that requirement and plans to install a mobile lactation room before Christmas.

Shumate said Paws & Effect plans to meet with the airport next year to discuss how to incorporate a service animal relief area in the new terminal, which airport officials expect to build in the coming decade.