United Hare Lines, umm, Airlines welcomed aboard a cute little bunny onboard a flight from San Francisco to Osaka in business class. Of course it was an “emotional support” animal.
The incident occurred over a year ago, but has just now caught the attention of the internet, including Live and Let’s Fly. Takako Ogawa had just concluded an extended gig in the Silcon Valley and was returning home to Japan. With her was her faithful companion of eight years, Coco.
But Ogawa wasn’t keen to put Coco in the cargo hold, fearing she might not make it home.
Ogawa told Insider:
“My friend had a cat that was put in the cargo that got so nervous during the flight that she couldn’t eat for another week after landing. That kind of pressure might have been bad for Coco because she is older now.”
So she did what any savvy traveler would do: quickly obtained a “doctor’s letter” online attesting that little Coco was an emotional support animal.
The plan was for Coco to fly at Ogawa’s feet during UA35, the 12-hour flight to Osaka. But it turns out that wasn’t necessary.
As does happen from time to time, the flight went out with open seats in business class, including the seat next to Ogawa. Flight attendants, also wooed by Coco’s cuteness, invited her out.
And then offered her mixed nuts.
And croissants.
Oh yes, and ice cream.
“I thought it was super nice of the flight attendants to let her use the unoccupied cubicle next to me, and for bringing her treats throughout the trip.”
That sounds like an understatement.
Coco was a doll (no word where she defecated, but let’s stay positive, shall we…) and as the pictures below attest, taken special care of. Donning a bow tie, he was even dressed for the occasion.
CONCLUSION
I warn my three-year-old son that he won’t always be so cute and get away with things. I feel like the same logic applies here. Regular readers know I am a fairly vocal opponent of emotional support animal in general. But it’s hard to get angry at such a cute, quiet little bunny.
Are you angry United let a bunny in a bow tie occupy a business class seat?
images: Takako Ogawa / Facebook
I had a pet rabbit. They are cute. But they are also destructive. They eat wood, chew plastic. I wouldn’t have let mine out on a plane.
I would clearly do the same…unless it’s a mature rabbit such as Coco…
simply…if u want free business class tickets..maybe just dress up like a rabbit and board United Airlines!
I am 100% against emotional support animals but somehow I feel cute bunnies can only make flights better.
All I can say is that somewhere somehow some more deserving passenger (elite, active service/veteran, maybe someone grieving a loss or celebrating a special occasion) was not upgraded because of this rabbit. ESAs, if it’s even a thing (and I don’t believe it should be) should be on the passenger’s lap or in a pet carrier in the overhead compartment.
Except, the flight went out with empty seats, so no, this rabbit wasn’t given priority over a human being.
Cuteness shouldn’t be a filter for allowing certain behavior. You are not for freedom of speech “except some speech”. You are not against death penalty “except some cases”. And on and on.
Frankly i think Americans are big posers. A lot of hypocrites everywhere. Trump is just a big pile of shit but he barely hides anything. The Republicans and Democrats in the Congress on the other are a bunch of posers. Biggest pose being how patriotic they are.
Legitimate service animals for aircraft travel from what I can see are dogs and miniature horses which I doubt wouldn’t be blocking the floor in a plane. They are trained to do specific tasks for the person. Emotional support animals apparently get off, actually on, easier and have to not have a specific function. Just a feel good thing. I think in these cases they should be required to be in a carrier under the seat in front and limited to the amount of pets an airline generally limits them to per plane. This has gotten way out of hand.
I feel so sorry for you. Traumatic childhood? Hate everybody! Oh of course it is everyone’s fault but yours. Seek help. Travel to toxic dump and become the overseer. Yes Trump is your thorn in your brain. God help you and Nancy P. Maybe you should contact Nancy…..hey Nancy let’s bond as one and grant the homeless a life estate on your front lawn. Yes. I will be the overseer. Overseer i am. I am great. I am wonderful. By the way. What is a piece of shit? Do you mean feces on the streets of San Francisco? Please call CNN. Be an overseer if that network. Yes, there you go, another overseer job with a doctorate in “shit”. Good luck. Set your goals high. You are on your way !
The bunny was certainly cute, causes no issues onboard, and the FA’s helped make the customers flight special. That’s the good part of the story.
The bad part is someone who very clearly demonstrates what’s wrong with emotional support animals and how they are a giant scam. A scam that needs to be terminated.
TDS much, hater? Stay out of our country and live out your wretched days in Somalia or a similar country, “debit.”
You mean the country you immigrated to? Why don’t you go back to where you came from? America for the Natives!
As someone who is highly allergic to rabbit dander, this selfish behavior really bothers me.
It doesn’t matter how cute it is, it shouldn’t have been allowed to climb all over the seat. That plane still probably hasn’t had a cleaning deep enough to get rid of the dander.
While the bunny is cute, this may only encourage more puppy/bunny mills to churn out “cute” babies to be future ESAs. A big mutt can provide emotional support and also entertain itself at home while you go to the grocery store.
Trust me on this, rabbits have no problem churning out more rabbits.
Also trust me on this, rabbits can entertain themselves all day long without you, too.
Plenty of people pay to have a small dog or cat in the cabin in a container that fits under the seat and its fine. It ought not have been an emotional support animal- just pay the cabin pet fee.
I personally would have cuddled the living crap out of it.
I’d never put any animal in the hold of a plane. -shudder-
It looks just like convicted Congressman Duncan Hunter’s bunny flying 1st class to DC on campaign contribution or taxpayer $$
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/09/politics/duncan-hunter-flight-pet-rabbit/index.html
Typical hypocritical republicans. They are a mafia. Most of them are in prison for larceny and murder and they will point to you and say but you got a parking ticket too. Get rid of republicans. Evil, evil republicans.
This is about a Japanese person returning to Osaka. No politics – it’s about a bunny! Why is it that political hate rhetoric pops up in the most obtuse manner?
Duncan hunter and Chris Collins were the first two republicans from the house to support trump. Both are convicted felons. Everything and everyone around trump is just corrupt. D.A. inserted that link about Duncan hunter and all my feelings about Republicans came out.
Not able to filter my thoughts, trump supporters should love that about me.
That is a gorgeous animal! And, however, you feel about emotional support animals, you have to admit that those are some cute pictures.
But is no one going to bring up the point about the rabbit being allowed to drink prosecco while sitting in first class?!!? Is that really a wise thing to permit?
But, seriously, I am having a hard time getting past the rabbit poop issue. I have no problem with Coco being up front or flying as an emotional support animal (did I mention that I once sat next to a couple holding a goldendoodle in their collective lap?), but a cage would have been appropriate.
I had rabbits growing up for a bit. They were trained to a litter box so perhaps this rabbit is as well. Who knows. Also very destructive as stated by Emily. It was all fun and games until you went to turn on the TV and nothing happened because the rabbit had chewed completely though the power cable. Or hearing the phone ring from the other room but not next to you because that cord had also been destroyed. Moved all three of them outside to a large pen where they were stolen and consumed by some larger animal one night.
There was no one on the upgrade list? Or did they not open PZ? If I was on the upgrade list for that flight and did not get upgraded, I would not be happy.
Wouldn’t that be true for any flight that went out with empty seats in BC?
I’m waiting for award space to open up for this flight in a few weeks. I’m booked in F on CA to KIX from IAH but going through Beijing always worries me given how delays and cancellations are frequent. One layover in SFO sounds better albeit it would not in F…a bunny would make up for it 😉
So it’s okay to violate rules or laws if you’re cute? That would make jury trials easier.
ESAs should not be allowed on planes. People should Suck It Up, and people with actual trained service animals should be the only ones allowed to take animals onto a plane. With all this ESA stuff, what’s stopping me from bringing my Emotional Support Grizzly Bear on board? What if (multiple) passengers were deathly allergic to dander? This nonsense needs to stop.
Liability insurance for all ESA’s. Problem solved.
The best way for airlines to “control” legally allowing ESA. Require a bond or $10 million in liability insurance.
While it doesn’t exist, it would and I doubt initially it would be cheap if the airline could recoup cleaning and sanitation fees from any accidents or issues that arise. as well it would eliminate a lot of Dr notrs from the internet.
True certified service animals are trained and 99.9% of the time pose no safety issues.
Even easier, just charge a standard pet fee. Double it for bringing the pet into the cabin. Having emotional problems doesn’t exempt you from paying for a seat, why should it exempt someone from paying for their pet’s seat?
Also, limit the passenger cabin to a maximum of under-the-seat carryon size OR genuine service dogs for diagnosed medical problems (the blind, seizure patients, real PTSD, etc.) and allow the airlines to demand documentation for that. No one needs to bring an emotional support cobra into the cabin.
There’s a pretty significant difference between an eight-pound bunny rabbit and, say, an eighty-pound pitbull. One is death awaiting you all with nasty big pointy teeth and the other is a dog. Wait, I sort of got that backwards — confused by Monty Python (who was not on the flight, fortunately).
Anyway, full disclosure here, I have been owned by rabbits off and on for years, and have flown one from Taipei to Seattle when I did an international move. She wasn’t an “emotional support rabbit” in an Americans With Disabilities Act sense, though, just a pet. I vaguely recall having to pay a fee for her, and had to get an airline-approved carrier small enough to fit under the seat in front of me. She stayed there, just like any other carry-on, for takeoff and landing, I kept her in her box on my lap during flight (with the door open, so I could reach in and pet her), and she nibbled on salad and lapped up water throughout.
No one on the flight got his head chewed off by her, and for once she didn’t even chew holes in my shirt. There may have been some poop pellets in there by the end, and probably some piss, but it was well contained, unlike say the emotional support pigs I’ve read about.
People take small pets on board all the time without incident. The first time I saw it was on an America West flight in the 1990s, with a cat in a cardboard box being held by the woman sitting next to me — poor thing was stoned out of its gourd on whatever the owner had given it to calm it down, and kept shoving its head through the flaps. The owner was not containing it very well, but that was ok, the cat wasn’t any trouble. As long as they’re kept (mostly) contained, I don’t see what the problem is.
The problem with most of the exotics, and many of the non-exotic “emotional support” dogs, is that they’re not quiet, not well trained (or trained at all), and are dangerous and disruptive. People, especially the cheapskate trailer park crowd, just pretend that these are “emotional support” animals in order to be able to take them in the passenger cabin without having to pay a pet fee. I look forward to the changes just announced where airlines can finally stop being forced to cater to them.
But let’s not get ridiculous about it. The most damage a loose rabbit might cause is if it ate someone’s shoelace.