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SoCalNative

(4,613 posts)
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:20 PM Oct 2018

Florida Police Remove Woman From Frontier Flight Due to Her 'Emotional Support Squirrel'

Police had to remove a woman who brought an "emotional support squirrel" on a Frontier Airlines flight headed from Orlando, Florida, to Cleveland.

Frontier says the passenger had noted in her reservation that she was bringing an emotional support animal with her on Flight 1612 Tuesday night. But she did not indicate it was a squirrel.

The airline says rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed. The airline says police were called when the passenger refused to leave the plane.

Police requested the other passengers disembark while officers dealt with the woman, who was eventually escorted into the main terminals.

https://ktla.com/2018/10/10/woman-removed-from-flight-after-bringing-emotional-support-squirrel-on-frontier-plane-in-florida/

32 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Florida Police Remove Woman From Frontier Flight Due to Her 'Emotional Support Squirrel' (Original Post) SoCalNative Oct 2018 OP
I have to wonder how emotionally supportive a squirrel can be. The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #1
a squirrel is a rat with a good PR agent DBoon Oct 2018 #5
... Phentex Oct 2018 #18
And seagulls are just pigeons SoCalNative Oct 2018 #22
Expect a sternly worded letter Achilleaze Oct 2018 #10
If it had been THAT squirrel MurrayDelph Oct 2018 #24
That squirrel died recently. Kablooie Oct 2018 #27
Side note on Rocky the Flying Squirrel MurrayDelph Oct 2018 #29
They can be very sweet. I used to raise orphaned baby squirrels. Crunchy Frog Oct 2018 #15
maybe she was acting a bit "Squirrelly" - n/t lapfog_1 Oct 2018 #2
Pretty sad that someone becomes to attached to a rodent. lindysalsagal Oct 2018 #3
I loved my guinea pigs and rats as a kid and young adult uppityperson Oct 2018 #4
But were you so emotionally dependent on them that you needed them with you The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #11
Did they say she was nuts? torius Oct 2018 #6
Pets is one thing leftynyc Oct 2018 #25
Rodents can carry a number of communicable diseases. lpbk2713 Oct 2018 #7
That's probably why the airline prohibits them. The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #8
Squirrels do not make good pets. The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #9
Lol. :) Hortensis Oct 2018 #12
My emotional support dog would like to meet your emotional support squirrel for lunch. milestogo Oct 2018 #13
I find it already highly suspicious DFW Oct 2018 #14
Both are nuts. TheCowsCameHome Oct 2018 #16
I see that. lpbk2713 Oct 2018 #17
We raised an orphaned squirrel kskiska Oct 2018 #19
The emotional support animal thing has gotten really ....nuts. I wonder if Dana Rohrabacher's bunny Hekate Oct 2018 #20
Maybe, since Rabbits are Lagomorphs ... same restrictions might not apply (nt) mr_lebowski Oct 2018 #26
It was the moose and the squirrel. Trust Buster Oct 2018 #21
Watch me pull a rabbit outta my HAT! mr_lebowski Oct 2018 #28
I guess she should have tried to smuggle it in her pants MurrayDelph Oct 2018 #23
Heh... Lars39 Oct 2018 #30
Squirrel! OhZone Oct 2018 #31
I had an emotional support crocodile till it bit me ProudLib72 Oct 2018 #32

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,701 posts)
1. I have to wonder how emotionally supportive a squirrel can be.
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:21 PM
Oct 2018

My experience with them is that they're snappy little bastards.

Achilleaze

(15,543 posts)
10. Expect a sternly worded letter
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:52 PM
Oct 2018

from the Society for Prevention of Squirrel Disparagement. It could happen.

MurrayDelph

(5,294 posts)
24. If it had been THAT squirrel
Thu Oct 11, 2018, 12:28 PM
Oct 2018

all it would take is one good "Allez ... Oop!" for him to fly himself wherever he was going.

Kablooie

(18,634 posts)
27. That squirrel died recently.
Thu Oct 11, 2018, 12:46 PM
Oct 2018

June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, died at age 99 last year, July.

MurrayDelph

(5,294 posts)
29. Side note on Rocky the Flying Squirrel
Thu Oct 11, 2018, 12:47 PM
Oct 2018

23 days ago was what would have been the 101st birthday of June Foray, the voice of Rocky. She missed her 100th by eight weeks. The day after her what would have been her 100th birthday, there was a wonderful celebration of her life at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills (it was booked for the day-before). I was lucky-enough to attend, and doubly-thrilled to discover I'd contributed a very small part to the evening, in a photo I'd taken of her in 1982.

lindysalsagal

(20,686 posts)
3. Pretty sad that someone becomes to attached to a rodent.
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:23 PM
Oct 2018

Probably mental health issues. The airline was right.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,701 posts)
11. But were you so emotionally dependent on them that you needed them with you
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 06:00 PM
Oct 2018

in order to travel on an airplane? I love my cats more than most people, but I don't need to take them on airplanes with me. In fact, both they and we would rather I didn't. I'm not saying this woman is mentally ill, but if she has an emotional need for an animal companion, a squirrel seems like an odd choice. Squirrels are wild animals, unlike guinea pigs and domestic rats, and they don't make good pets. A dog or a cat would probably give her more comfort, and she could bring it on a plane with her.

torius

(1,652 posts)
6. Did they say she was nuts?
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:28 PM
Oct 2018

Lots of people have pet mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils and rats, all are rodents. Not sure what they have against a whole species.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
25. Pets is one thing
Thu Oct 11, 2018, 12:31 PM
Oct 2018

Insisting you're too emotionally unable to fly without them is a problem. I've seen people take advantage of this "support animal" thing far too many times to feel badly for this women. Too many use it as an excuse not to pay the fee for your pet.

lpbk2713

(42,757 posts)
7. Rodents can carry a number of communicable diseases.
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:29 PM
Oct 2018


It's bad enough being sealed in a tube with other humans you never met for a couple of hours.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,701 posts)
8. That's probably why the airline prohibits them.
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:45 PM
Oct 2018

And squirrels aren't really domesticated animals like common rodent pets like guinea pigs and gerbils, and so might be inclined to bite. To be fair, they probably should have asked her when she made the reservation what kind of animal she wanted to bring, and informed her at the time that the squirrel wouldn't be allowed.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,701 posts)
9. Squirrels do not make good pets.
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:52 PM
Oct 2018
https://www.vin.com/vetzinsight/default.aspx?pid=756&id=5454945

If you're still thinking squirrels would make a fun pet, examine this photo of Marcia's leg and emphasize to yourself that that's the leg of someone who knows what she's doing with squirrels... https://www.vin.com/apputil/image/handler.ashx?imgid=1910791&w=640

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
12. Lol. :)
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 06:03 PM
Oct 2018

I'm sure it's somewhere in the procedure manual, rodents not allowed.

But you know, in a nation of 330,000,000 people, surely there are more of these stories than we could get through in a day?

DFW

(54,384 posts)
14. I find it already highly suspicious
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 06:06 PM
Oct 2018

Why would anyone voluntarily leave Orlando for Cleveland, anyway? I'd need a lot more than a squirrel for emotional support.

kskiska

(27,045 posts)
19. We raised an orphaned squirrel
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 06:51 PM
Oct 2018

He was really cute, but once he began to mature we arranged to have him transitioned to living in the wild by a rehabber.

Hekate

(90,690 posts)
20. The emotional support animal thing has gotten really ....nuts. I wonder if Dana Rohrabacher's bunny
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 06:56 PM
Oct 2018

...was let on the airplane on that basis?

ProudLib72

(17,984 posts)
32. I had an emotional support crocodile till it bit me
Thu Oct 11, 2018, 01:17 PM
Oct 2018

After that I needed an emotional support gorilla. Then I noticed Jane Goodall was following me around, so I had to get an emotional support narwhal. Stupid airlines wouldn't accommodate a 50,000 gallon water tank! Pissed me right off!

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