A United Airlines first class passenger traveling with a small dog – a 19-year old named Piper – was feeding his friend goldfish. He places a drink order: “Diet Coke for me, water for the dog” and then a flight attendant flight attendant returns, reminding him “your pet needs to be in its carrier at all times.” “The whole time?” the passenger asked? “The whole time.” repeated the flight attendant.
He indicates the dog doesn’t tolerate the carrier and suggests, “this is going to get ugly,” then kennels the dog under the seat. Later, this is described as 3.5 hours of “non‑stop protests” for the first leg of his trip.
Video then cuts to his connecting flight, where he straps the dog into a baby‑style chest sling, partly concealed with a hat. He winks when asked about the “baby,” and keeps the dog there.
- “We are 10 minutes into the flight – success”
- “Getting ready to land and Piper had an awesome nappy against my chest.”
The dog’s owner describes the chest‑sling as a “travel hack” and suggests he gave the flight attendant a “plausible out” by referring to the dog as a “baby” under a cover.
United’s pet in‑cabin rule:
Your pet must stay in their carrier with the door closed, and under your seat at all times.
Five years ago, the Department of Transportation stopped requiring airlines to allow Emotional Support Animals – only task‑trained service dogs are required to be accommodated, including being out of a carrier. People lie about this all the time, and all they have to do is fill out an attestation. Technically lying on the form carries penalties under 18 U.S.C. §1001 but I have never seen a single case of a passenger prosecuted for this.
And so we see Delta boot an elite passenger from first class for a dog and an emotional support dog eating off the table in the New York JFK Delta One lounge. We see multiple dogs with their own United Polaris business class seats rather than in kennels.
By the way, here are the five easy ways to isntantly spot fake service animals on your flight.
(HT: One Mile at a Time)
Dear. God. What a loser.
Ah, here it is… from social media, to OMAAT and LALF (yesterday), and finally, VFTW… now, we feast!
Dog lovers, dog haters, rule followers, rule breakers, assemble!
Everyone getting lathered up about a nice man giving his nice old dog a nice trip is a complete douche and I hope I never meet you
“Dear. God. What a loser.” –Thing 1
Such an insightful and germane thing to say.
He thinks he’s better than the rest of us, as rules (a very good rule here) don’t apply to him. He’s willing to risk others’ safety for his pleasure while others in the cabin suffer and so does the helpless little pooch. A blind/deaf dog wants nothing to do with air travel (I’m a prt psychic on the side). BTW, it is still wrong even if everyone in the vicinity is OK with have the pooch uncaged.
@Douché — Touché! Lather up!
Your pet does belong in a carrier. Airlines are meant to move people, not animals.
@George Nathan Romey — “Keep tha change, ya filthy..”
Coach.. not first.
@Doug — Looked like First (2-2 seating, recliner); besides, the flight attendant appeared to be reviewing food and beverage requests with those passengers, and they don’t typically do that with ‘Coach’ passengers on domestic routes because those passengers rarely get any meals.
Some people are lucky enough to know the love of a dog . . . and those who never have will forever be resentful.
Nothing annoys an American more than seeing another person having a better life than himself. Envy is the worst human quality.
@Mak — I… don’t disagree. *bark*
The “you’re just envious” argument is common amongst pre-teens a teens. It is a worn out argument amongst adults. Remember the argument that AOC criticism was from guys who wanted to date her but couldn’t? I prefer to discuss facts.
@This comes to mind — “…the lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
@1990 days I’m a dog lover and a rule breaker. While I feel like dogs on planes is way out of hand, some days I’d rather fly with dog as opposed to some of the heathens on the plane.
I keep seeing more and more passengers travelling with alleged support animals.
While I do like animals, I see this as part of the wussification of western society.
I blame this on:
1) Bad chemicals in our food and water.
2) Children being raised by single mothers only. No father figure around to promote emotional strength and toughness. In some cases, the father was present but he was unmanly and did a poor job helping to raise the kids properly.
@Parker — 100%.
Wow. The amount of sad depressed incels on here is telling. Get a life. Bunch of nosy neighbors is what you all are.
The intent of requiring your dog to be in a carrier under the seat is to contain him from being a nuisance to other passengers or getting loose on the plane. This elderly dog in a baby sling across the man’s chest was contained and not a nuisance, and certainly not loose. I think the baby sling is a really good idea if the dog is small enough.