Florida woman: Airline told me to flush pet hamster

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Florida woman: Airline told me to flush pet hamster

Miami – A Florida woman says an airline told her to flush her hamster down a toilet at the airport because the emotional support rodent wasn’t allowed to fly with her.

The Miami Herald reports before Belen Aldecosea flew home from college to South Florida, she twice called Spirit Airlines to ensure she could bring along Pebbles, her pet dwarf hamster. No problem, the airline told her.

But when Aldecosea arrived at the Baltimore airport, Spirit refused to allow the animal board.

The 21-year-old told the paper that she flushed Pebbles at an airline employee’s suggestion, after running out of other options.

Panicked and needing to return home promptly to deal with a medical issue, Aldecosea was unable to rent a car and agonized for hours before doing the unthinkable...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/08/airline-flushed-hamster/110229624/
 
Hamster flushed down toilet after college student’s pet denied flight on Spirit Airlines
by Daniella Silva and Anthony Cusumano

A beloved pet hamster that was flushed down a toilet has become the latest controversial case in airlines versus people seeking to travel with emotional support animals.

Belen Aldecosea, 21, on Thursday accused Spirit Airlines of causing her to tearfully flush Pebbles the hamster down a toilet in an airport bathroom after the company refused to let her bring the pet on a flight as an emotional support animal, according to lawyer Adam Goodman...

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/a...et-after-college-student-s-pet-denied-n846116
 
The emotional support animals are a huge problem to me. I am allergic to cats as are many people. I have a rodent phobia which other people I know have. A support peacock?

Would there be support snakes? There is no way I could sit by those animals.

If people are going to have support animals, they need to sit in a section away from others. I have nothing for cat allergies as I stay away from places that have them. But my eyes swell shut and weep . My daughter is even more severe.

What is the answer?
 
human said:
The emotional support animals are a huge problem to me. I am allergic to cats as are many people. I have a rodent phobia which other people I know have. A support peacock?

Would there be support snakes? There is no way I could sit by those animals.

If people are going to have support animals, they need to sit in a section away from others. I have nothing for cat allergies as I stay away from places that have them. But my eyes swell shut and weep . My daughter is even more severe.

What is the answer?
Click to expand...

Airlines allow cats/dogs on board as regular animals. They don't have to be emotional support animals.
 
jjenny said:
Airlines allow cats/dogs on board as regular animals. They don't have to be emotional support animals.
Click to expand...

One time a woman by me but not a seat mate had a small dog in a cage.

I do not believe a large dog like a German Shepherd could be on the plane proper. Aren’t animals put in a different place on the plane?

I have never thought about the animals as I have not seen one even waiting in airports such as LAX for hours.

With alll of the horrible reports of how passengers are treated, I wonder what they would do if soneone like me could not sit next to a cat.

I know there are peopled terrified of dogs. I wonder how this all works
 
I'm having a hard time buying this story. If Pebbles was that precious then why in the hell would you flush it? If she got the airlines ok before hand then why not a phone call to customer support to verify you made the call and you were, in fact, given the ok. I'm also hung up on the flushing, what sorta ghoul would flush their supposed emotional support rodent. Unless someone can verify the rodent was in fact flushed, I have a feeling Peebles is comfortably in her little cage.
 
DAnthrplgst said:
I'm having a hard time buying this story. If Pebbles was that precious then why in the hell would you flush it? If she got the airlines ok before hand then why not a phone call to customer support to verify you made the call and you were, in fact, given the ok. I'm also hung up on the flushing, what sorta ghoul would flush their supposed emotional support rodent. Unless someone can verify the rodent was in fact flushed, I have a feeling Peebles is comfortably in her little cage.
Click to expand...

Or died of old age?

I'd need to see video to believe she flushed a living animal. Plus, if it happened, she should be arrested and charged with animal cruelty.

moo
 
DAnthrplgst said:
Admittedly I have not read each link posted, but from what I read on my news page earlier, it wasn't clear that she specified that the support animal was a rodent > the issue the airlines had was that it was a rodent. I very well may have missed something but what i got from the link I read online (before seeing it here) was that she called to verify that she could bring her support animal aboard. Did she in fact tell them ahead of time that it was a hamster?
Click to expand...
 
webaddict said:
Admittedly I have not read each link posted, but from what I read on my news page earlier, it wasn't clear that she specified that the support animal was a rodent > the issue the airlines had was that it was a rodent. I very well may have missed something but what i got from the link I read online (before seeing it here) was that she called to verify that she could bring her support animal aboard. Did she in fact tell them ahead of time that it was a hamster?
Click to expand...

That's a good question. The couple of articles I have read both said she asked if an emotional support animal was ok, never indicating if she told the airline it was a hamster. Although I have to wonder, what would it ultimately matter? I mean, they let all other manner of critters on board, a hamster would be the least disruptive animal compared to others.
 
This whole story does not sound right. It sounds more as though she tried to sneak the hamster in her purse/bag but got caught, then she tried to say she had been given permission WHICH DOES NOT SOUND TRUE. She had now got herself in a difficult situation so the only way out was the horribly cruel act of flushing the poor little animal down the toilet WHICH I DO BELIEVE. She should face animal cruelty charges.
 
Airline confirmed they gave her permission when she called, that's in all the articles. Not that excuses flushing hamster down the toilet.
 
DAnthrplgst said:
That's a good question. The couple of articles I have read both said she asked if an emotional support animal was ok, never indicating if she told the airline it was a hamster. Although I have to wonder, what would it ultimately matter? I mean, they let all other manner of critters on board, a hamster would be the least disruptive animal compared to others.
Click to expand...

What kind of person confirms that animal is allowed without asking what the animal is? Airline confirmed they told her it was allowed.
 
human said:
One time a woman by me but not a seat mate had a small dog in a cage.

I do not believe a large dog like a German Shepherd could be on the plane proper. Aren’t animals put in a different place on the plane?

I have never thought about the animals as I have not seen one even waiting in airports such as LAX for hours.

With alll of the horrible reports of how passengers are treated, I wonder what they would do if soneone like me could not sit next to a cat.

I know there are peopled terrified of dogs. I wonder how this all works
Click to expand...

No, animals are not in a different place. They are supposed to be in airline approved carrier that fits under the seat in front. German Shepherd, unless its a puppy, isn't going to fit. Therefore German Shepherds, unless they are service animals, wouldn't be able to fly with the passengers. I don't know what would happen, I flew with various animals on airlines and hadn't had problems.
 
Jax49 said:
Or died of old age?

I'd need to see video to believe she flushed a living animal. Plus, if it happened, she should be arrested and charged with animal cruelty.

moo
Click to expand...

In order to be arrested, you'd have to have proof she did it. As she claims she flushed it while in the restroom, if nobody saw it, nobody would have reported it. I don't know if her claiming it to the media is enough for an arrest or charges. Some people here claiming they don't believe it, even though she says she did it. As the body was supposedly flushed down the toilet then there is no physical evidence. Case in point-a vet who posted on facebook that she killed a cat with an arrow wasn't charged, supposedly because cat's body was never recovered. Even though she posted a photo on facebook of herself hold the dead/dying cat.
 
Meryl12 said:
This whole story does not sound right. It sounds more as though she tried to sneak the hamster in her purse/bag but got caught, then she tried to say she had been given permission WHICH DOES NOT SOUND TRUE. She had now got herself in a difficult situation so the only way out was the horribly cruel act of flushing the poor little animal down the toilet WHICH I DO BELIEVE. She should face animal cruelty charges.
Click to expand...

Again, airline confirms they gave her permission. That part is clearly reported accurately. They claim that they didn't tell her to flush the hamster.

“Our reservation representative, unfortunately, did misinform the Guest that a hamster was permitted to fly as an emotional support animal on Spirit Airlines,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...n-desperation-she-did/?utm_term=.bbafb2f7945f
 
I have spent two awful flights having allergic reactions to dogs in the vicinity...I would prefer a hamster in my aisle over a dog!
I am not sure how they can discriminate between animal type as long as they are are of a reasonable size and contained in a appropriate pet carrier...but, I for one, would like all pet owners to be in on section of the plane with separate ventilation...it really isn't fair that other passengers should suffer.
 
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