It’s not every day a passenger gets a personal shout-out from a pilot aboard their flight. This service dog, however, was one of the rare exceptions, receiving an honorary announcement from the pilot on a Southwest flight, thanking the dog — as well as her handler, Cole Lyle — for flying on over 320 flights and helping to pass the PAWS Act.
Kaya, who has been with Lyle since 2014, was trained specifically to help veterans cope with mental health issues. She was also the inspiration for the 2021 PAWS Act, and flew all around the country with Lyle to lobby for the act’s passage. Unfortunately, Kaya was recently diagnosed with untreatable cancer, and the shout out marks her the final flight of her career.
