Animals

Download TSA’s 2025 Canine Calendar

Animals,

Love dogs and looking for a fun, free 2025 calendar?

Then check out the 2025 Canine Calendar put out – for free – by the Transportation Security Administration.

The calendar features 13 hard-working TSA canines selected from more than 80 entries submitted by TSA teams nationwide. Each month features photos, fun facts about each winning pup as well as notations for special holidays, such as Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21) and World Chocolate Day (July 7).

The 2025 TSA Canine Calendar also includes factoids about the history of TSA’s canine program.

For example, if you turn to the March 2025 page you’ll learn that the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) canine program was created after a bomb threat at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on March 15, 1972.

“On that day, moments into a flight, the airline received an anonymous call warning about a bomb onboard. The aircraft returned to JFK where passengers were evacuated and a bomb-sniffing dog named Brandy was brought on board to search. Brandy found the explosive device 12 minutes before it was set to detonate.“

Yay, Brandy!

Today, there are more than 1,000 canine teams (dogs and handlers) deployed at more than 100 of the nation’s airports, mass transit and maritime systems.

Not just any dog is suited to work with the TSA.

According to the TSA, each year about 300 new canine recruits complete an intensive 16-week training program at the TSA Canine Training Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas.

While in training, the dogs are paired with their handlers and then master the art of detecting a variety of explosives odors. The dogs are also trained on how to do their sensitive work while on duty in busy transportation environments.

Here’s the line-up for this year’s TSA Canine Calendar. Download your copy here.

  • Argo: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
  • Arina: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
  • Badger: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
  • Barni: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
  • Bely: Charleston International Airport (CHS)
  • Beny: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
  • Birdie: Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
  • Bruno: Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN)
  • Carlo: Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
  • Dodo: Portland International Airport (PDX)
  • Hary: Richmond International Airport (RIC)
  • Kipper: San Diego International Airport (SAN)
  • Smokie: Dallas Love Field (DAL)

Airports celebrate National Dog Day

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Monday, August 26, was National Dog Day and airports around the country took the opportunity to celebrate the therapy dogs and their people who volunteer to hang out in the terminals helping passengers de-stress.

Here’s a sampling of some of the celebrations. Let us know if we missed yours.

And, look! After all the votes were counted, Barni from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has been crowned the Cutest Canine for 2024.

Zebra spotted at SEA Airport – and lots of other places near Seattle

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(Courtesy SEA Airport)

Perhaps you’ve seen news reports about the four zebras that escaped from a trailer on a highway east of Seattle this week. 3 were quickly captured, but one is still on the loose.

There have been some real sightings of the last zebra out in the woods and we hope he’s found safe soon.

But in the meantime, locals are having a great time spotting the zebra in other places, including at the airport, on a ferry, on a bridge, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, in a police car and lots of other places.

Travel was a zoo at San Antonio Int’l Airport

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It can be crowded and stressful at the airport on the first day of a busy holiday weekend.

But on Friday, at the start of the July 4th weekend, it was a zoo at San Antonio International Airport (SAT).

Not because of the people. But because of the animals.

As part of SAT’s “Summer of Fun,” Zoomagination, an animal advocate program, brought a boa constrictor, an opossum, a parrot, and two sloths to the airport for animal encounters with travelers.

Why two sloths? Sloths sleep 18-20 hours a day, so when Snooze the Sloth needed a nap, Yogi took over.

(Photos courtesy SAT Airport)

Travel Tidbits for a busy holiday weekend

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The Memorial Day weekend is traditionally one of the busiest travel times. And this year is no exception.

AAA projects 42.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend, a 7% increase over 2022.

Many people will be driving to their destinations this weekend, but AAA says nearly 3.4 million travelers are expected to fly.

That’s an increase of 11% over last year and 5.4% more than in 2019.

“This Memorial Day weekend could be the busiest at airports since 2005,” says AAA.

So if you’re flying somewhere, pack your patience – and some snacks.

Therapy Cat at SFO Airport

San Francisco International Airport’s team of certified stress-relief animals, the Wag Brigade, includes dogs, a Flemish giant rabbit named Alex, and a Juliana-breed pig named Lilou.

Now the team has a new member: Duke Ellington Morris, known around town as ‘Duke the Cat.’

Duke is certified as a therapy cat by the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and has been visiting area hospitals and other sites for many years.

Look for Duke and other SFO stress-relief animals wearing their “pet me” vests.

Air New Zealand’s amenity kits feature products inspired by Māori knowledge

Air New Zealand’s new onboard amenity kits now feature skincare products made by Aotea on Aotea/ Great Barrier Island that inspiration by traditional Māori herbal practices.

The products include native New Zealand ingredients, such as Kawakawa, Harakeke, and Mānuka, and are available to customers traveling in business premier and premium economy cabins.

“My grandmother was a Rongoā Māori (Māori medicine) practitioner,” says Aotea founder Tama Toki, “She would treat us kids with what we found in the bush and the Aotea range is an expression of that upbringing. It’s a privilege to be able to see this part of our culture onboard Air New Zealand flights.”