A little dog made a big stink…
After a woman flagrantly violated the rules by letting her chihuahua dog out of his pet carrier on a United Airlines flight, the dog relieved himself by defecating all over the woman and her seat.
Chihuahua Relieved Himself On United Airlines Flight, Forcing Hazmat Clean-Up By Flight Attendants
On Monday, February 5, 2024, a woman boarded a United Airlines flight from Denver (DEN) to Portland (PDX) with her dog. The flight took off and proceeded uneventfully until she decided to take her chihuahua out of his cage and hold it in her lap.
The dog responded by defecating all over her and her seat. Passengers around her suddenly smelled the feces. It was so bad for a pregnant woman seated in the row behind that flight attendants were summoned.
Donning hazmat suits, flight attendants cleaned up the mess. Passengers were also provided both wipes and compensation of $50-75 depending upon MileagePlus elite status.
It’s hard to blame the dog here. The woman admitted as she boarded that she was connecting from another flight but had no time to take her dog to a relief area during the layover. Asking a little dog to hold it for hours at a time is difficult.
Furthermore, it appears the woman did absolutely nothing after the dog relieved himself. She failed to even try to clean it herself. That makes it all the more puzzling why at least one passenger seems to shrug off the incident.
One passenger told WGN:
“Obviously you don’t want to be tied to a poop incident right? But we were patient with her, I didn’t lose my cool. I was friendly because it’s an accident. So I think at the end of the day accidents happen, it’s an unfortunate event maybe United can learn something from this and we take something away from it.”
But just what is United supposed to learn from this? Ban all dogs period? Pooping in a cage may have produced the same smell, but it would not have produced the same mess. Flight attendants cannot possibly monitor the cabin perfectly to ensure that (non-service) dogs remain in their carrier. This falls on the passenger.
United’s rules are crystal clear: unless it is a service dog, the animal must remain in the pet carrier.
Addressing the incident, United explained:
“Our inflight crew thoughtfully cleaned the area shortly after customers brought it to our attention. We provided sanitizing wipes and offered travel vouchers to those in the surrounding area.”
That’s all good. But how about a ban for this selfish passenger…or at least her poor dog?
Cloth seats are nasty because of incidents like this. Also sat next to a woman who $h*t herself on a flight and left a visible wet spot on the seat while she was in the lav. There’s no amount of cleaning that will get this out of a cloth seat.
As I said, charge the dogs FULL FARE (Y,O,J)
That will keep most dogs out of the cabin
Okay. Give these FAs the raise immediately. Ban and fine the dog owner. United should consider a pet deposit to cover costs and make these inconsiderate pet owners abide by the rules.
Irresponsible idiots ruin things for everyone else. A solid general rule of life that is exemplified here. Oh, and this particular dog’s owner is a total idiot.
Dogs don’t tend to poop or pee where they sleep. So if the dog had been left in its cage there is a chance it would have held it longer, perhaps till the plane landed, before giving in to natures call.
The blame is clearly on the pet owner.
“I was friendly because it’s an accident.” What an idiot! No, it was not an accident. She violated the rule by removing the dog from the cage. Thus, she should be fully aware of the consequences in doing that. And I kid of agree with @Derek. Yes, full highest first class fare for a dog in the cabin but ideally if you have to travel with your pet, take the Greyhound bus or drive. No planes for you.
Lol chihuahuas are a menace to society. As well as this passenger!
There’s an art form for traveling with pets. It’s about knowing your pet also. Our dog has been to and from the UK on flights over 9 hours DFW-LHR-DFW with no issues. It’s going to sound cruel, but it’s about limiting their access to food/water before the flight, especially a long haul flight. The day prior, it’s just about giving them less food than they normally have so they are likely to have less waste. Making sure they do their business both the night before and before the flight also. With a couple hours left to go in the flight, I will reintroduce a bit of water to wet his whistle prior to landing and then once we land, make a beeline for the exit so he can relieve himself.
Did you know that chihuahuas are the most common dog breed in around 20 states?
Most people do not keep their dogs in the carriers so this will continue to happen!!
The proper thing to have done would be to take the dog to the lav to relax and relieve itself which triggers an observation:
due to cost cutting, many airplane lavs in economy class (perhaps others) are smaller. This makes them difficult to use for the disabled and pet owners.
If the lavs are too small for the dog owners, then the dog owners should stop being such cheap bastards and board the dogs at a kennel, or use another means to travel. So tired of all the people who think Muffy has to go everywhere with them – travel, grocery stores, department stores, etc. Enough!
The $50 compensation was nice. Beats what AA would have done.
NEVER feed a dog the day of a flight.
Make sure they relieve themselves BEFORE boarding.
That poor dog.