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Lindsey Bever
Generalist journalist covering national news
There have been stories of passengers flying with cats and dogs and miniature horses.
The list also includes a peacock, a hamster, a duck wearing a diaper – and a defecating pig.
Now comes news of one. . . flying squirrel.
A female passenger was removed from a Frontier Airlines flight on Tuesday night while she was trying to fly with her squirrel "emotional support" and then refused to get off the plane while on the plane. he had been told no, according to the airline.
A spokeswoman for Frontier said in a statement that the passenger had warned the airline that she would bring an animal with emotional support aboard the flight, without mentioning it. . . with bright eyes and a bushy tail.
"Rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed on Frontier flights," the statement said. "The passenger was informed of the policy and asked to disembark."
When the passenger refused, other passengers on flight 1612, who were traveling from Orlando to Cleveland, were forced off the plane so authorities could get the woman out of the bus. ;plane.
Anecdote: Frontier Airlines presents a variety of animals on the tail of its planes, including "Foxy the Red Fox", "Rudy the Raccoon", "Jim Bob the Badger" and even "Sammy the Squirrel" . Airbus A320-214; The 1612 flight was an Airbus A321 and therefore would not have had the squirrel tail.
[Can you really bring a peacock on a plane? Service and support animals, explained.]
The incident occurred Tuesday night at Orlando International Airport.
The Orlando Police Service stated that the owner of the squirrel boarded the plane, but when the airline staff realized they had a cage containing the small critter, they asked to disembark. When she refused, authorities were called to escort her from the plane.
Authorities said the passenger had left the plane when the agents had arrived and that they "had no action to take".
A video posted on Twitter A crowd gathered at Gate 15. The message read as follows: "I just want everyone to know that all the passengers had to disembark my flight for Cleveland because a woman took a SQUIRREL IN THE PLANE."
A next video showed a woman escorted through the wheelchair airport while others applauded and applauded.
Earlier this month, Frontier announced a new policy on emotional support and trained assistance animals, which is expected to take effect Nov. 1. It allows cats and dogs as emotional support animals and restricts assistance animals to cats, dogs and miniature horses.
Emotionally-supported animals, or "comfort animals," are not the same as assistive animals or animals for therapeutic purposes, which are usually trained to help people with emotional or physical disabilities.
As the Washington Post reports, emotional support animals are not covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which means companies are not obliged to accommodate them. Federal regulations allow them on planes, but allow airlines to refuse unusual animals.
According to The Post's Karin Brulliard:
Although the American Act Disability Act defines the equipment animals as trained dogs or miniature horses, the airlines are bound by the more liberal Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, which allows for travel. free of "any animal" trained for who provides emotional support. Airlines can ask passengers of second category creatures to write a letter from a doctor or mental health professional, but the documents are easily falsified or obtained from websites offering "examinations" of the questionnaire type.
The result, the airline authorities complain, is a recrudescence of poorly trained animals that has turned some flights into airmeats, dogs blocking drink trolleys, cats urinating on seats and ducks wandering the aisles.
"This has created a real problem on our aircraft," said Taylor Garland, spokesperson for the Flight Attendant Association, who applauded the changes brought by Delta. Garland said one union member had been asked to administer oxygen to a dog that, according to its owner, was suffering from anxiety in full flight. Others have been bitten. "The cabin of the plane is a unique space, and … we must recognize the limitations that exist when flying in the air in a metal tube."
A ground squirrel runs with an acorn in Portland, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty / AP)
Read more:
Daniel, the emotional support duck, makes his first plane trip and gains popularity
United has changed its policy on emotionally-supported animals. This peacock still can not ship.
Fur and fury at 40,000 feet as more and more people bring animals into planes
Therapy animals are everywhere. The proof that they help is not.
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