Relief for Rover at area airports

If man's best friend needs a place to go at Washington's three major airports, he now has his own designated areas.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is debuting "pet relief areas" to provide bathroom breaks for pets and service animals. There are five areas at Dulles, both outside and inside the terminals. The inside locations "feature unique ventilation and flushing/drainage systems" to help keep things clean, according to airports spokesman Rob Yingling. National has four outdoor areas.

The airports are required under federal rules to provide "service animal relief areas," airports officials said.

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport already has such an area, according to spokesman Jonathan O. Dean. The area is adjacent to the light rail station at the end of Concourse E on the lower level.

Locations are available here:
-- BWI
-- Dulles
-- National (PDF)

-- Michael Bolden