I have no idea how to label this or explain what happened. It is part of the conflict between airlines and people wanting to travel with emotional support animals. This issue blew up when someone tried to travel with an emotional support peacock. United Airlines refused to accommodate the animal.
This time it is Spirit Airlines and a passenger traveling from Baltimore to Florida. She wanted to bring an emotional support dwarf hamster on the plane and was refused even though she claims she was told she could bring the hamster. She claims the airline employees told her to flush the hamster. That is what she did because she thought it was the humane thing to do.
The airline says it never told her to flush the hamster.
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/02/08...leges.html
https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/stu...ation.html
At no point could flushing a hamster be considered a humane action! Whether the airline actually told her to do it or not, it is a cruel action. It would have been a horrible death and probably not a quick one.
There are two issues here. One is airlines and their emotional support animals policies. I think they need to come up with some clear rules that people can understand. If they are going to accommodate support animals they need to specify when and under what conditions. If there are animals that they will not permit on their planes they need to clearly state that. If there are types of animals or sizes of animals that they cannot accommodate they need to state that. The hamster incident is a result of unclear rules and a lack of clear understanding on the part of the airline staff.
The other issue is emotional support animals. There is no doubt that there are emotional support animals and other types of working animals that are part of people's lives. These animals do need special accommodation when it comes to airplanes and other public places. What constitutes and emotional support animal? Can any pet be called an emotional support animal.
Our pets are a support to us, but are they actual working animals who deserve special privileges.
It is a little hard to consider a peacock an actual trained support animal. I would question using a dwarf hamster as an emotional support animal. They have a life span that seldom exceeds 24 months and is often only 18 months. They are nocturnal and they hibernate in the winter. They are adorable and entertaining, but they are not focused on the humans in their lives the way a dog would be.
Perhaps while the airlines are assessing their new policies, somewhere the concept of emotional support animal needs to be better defined and regulated.
I wish I had been at the airport. I would have taken the hamster home. Surely someone there could have helped.
What was done could never have been the right choice. The little hamster deserved better from the humans around her.
This time it is Spirit Airlines and a passenger traveling from Baltimore to Florida. She wanted to bring an emotional support dwarf hamster on the plane and was refused even though she claims she was told she could bring the hamster. She claims the airline employees told her to flush the hamster. That is what she did because she thought it was the humane thing to do.
The airline says it never told her to flush the hamster.
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/02/08...leges.html
https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/stu...ation.html
At no point could flushing a hamster be considered a humane action! Whether the airline actually told her to do it or not, it is a cruel action. It would have been a horrible death and probably not a quick one.
There are two issues here. One is airlines and their emotional support animals policies. I think they need to come up with some clear rules that people can understand. If they are going to accommodate support animals they need to specify when and under what conditions. If there are animals that they will not permit on their planes they need to clearly state that. If there are types of animals or sizes of animals that they cannot accommodate they need to state that. The hamster incident is a result of unclear rules and a lack of clear understanding on the part of the airline staff.
The other issue is emotional support animals. There is no doubt that there are emotional support animals and other types of working animals that are part of people's lives. These animals do need special accommodation when it comes to airplanes and other public places. What constitutes and emotional support animal? Can any pet be called an emotional support animal.
Our pets are a support to us, but are they actual working animals who deserve special privileges.
It is a little hard to consider a peacock an actual trained support animal. I would question using a dwarf hamster as an emotional support animal. They have a life span that seldom exceeds 24 months and is often only 18 months. They are nocturnal and they hibernate in the winter. They are adorable and entertaining, but they are not focused on the humans in their lives the way a dog would be.
Perhaps while the airlines are assessing their new policies, somewhere the concept of emotional support animal needs to be better defined and regulated.
I wish I had been at the airport. I would have taken the hamster home. Surely someone there could have helped.
What was done could never have been the right choice. The little hamster deserved better from the humans around her.
![[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rtQnRVnpHuw/Upv4HXYM20I/AAAAAAAAAqo/K5MmSTvkZdA/w296-h229-p-no/IMG_9091.JPG)
Catherine
