Delta Air Lines said on Friday that it was tightening its rules for transporting service and support animals in an effort to reduce misbehavior by dogs and other creatures that air carriers are required by law to allow on board.

Service dogs are specially trained to aid people with disabilities. Emotional support animals provide comfort and companionship to their owners and do not require coaching.

Delta, which carries nearly 250,000 such animals a year, said that starting March 1, it would require documentation about their health and, in some instances, a promise of good conduct. The new rules make Delta’s policy among the most demanding among major carriers.

The number of service and support animals, which federal regulations say must fly at no cost and uncaged, with some exceptions, has surged 150 percent on Delta planes since 2015. Customers, the airline said in announcing the move, had “attempted to fly with comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders and more.”