Student flushes ESA hamster down toilet after being turned away by airline

ESA watch, 2/9/18 report:

the ESA controversy soars to new heights as it reaches a new low w/ a cute lil ESA hamster was flushed down an airport toilet by its owner after being denied boarding! can these peeps be helped?

here's the link and full story: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...198971069.html

Quote:

---

Bad info from Spirit Air led me to flush pet hamster down airport toilet, student says
Before Belen Aldecosea flew home from from college to South Florida, she twice called Spirit Airlines to ensure she could bring along a special guest: Pebbles, her pet dwarf hamster. No problem, the airline told her.

But when Aldecosea arrived at the Baltimore airport, Spirit refused to allow the tiny animal on the flight.

With her only friends hours away at campus, Aldecosea was stuck. She says an airline representative suggested flushing Pebbles down an airport toilet, a step that Spirit denies. Panicked and needing to return home promptly to deal with a medical issue, Aldecosea unsuccessfully tried renting a car and agonized for hours before doing the unthinkable.

She flushed Pebbles.

“She was scared. I was scared. It was horrifying trying to put her in the toilet,” Aldecosea said. “I was emotional. I was crying. I sat there for a good 10 minutes crying in the stall.”

Aldecosea, 21, of Miami Beach, is now considering filing a lawsuit against Spirit over the conflicting instructions that wound up pressuring her into making an anguished decision with a pet certified by her doctor as an emotional support animal. She shared her story with the Miami Herald weeks after the story of an emotional support peacock — denied entrance to a United Airlines flight — went viral on the Internet.

This case is much different, said her South Florida attorney, Adam Goodman. “This wasn’t a giant peacock that could pose a danger to other passengers. This was a tiny cute harmless hamster that could fit in the palm of her hand,” he said.

A spokesman for Spirit acknowledged the airline mistakenly told her that Pebbles was allowed. But he denied that a Spirit employee recommended the option of disposing of her pet in an airport restroom.

“To be clear, at no point did any of our agents suggest this guest (or any other for that matter) should flush or otherwise injure an animal,” spokesman Derek Dombrowski said.

After the Nov. 21 incident, Aldecosea said that she emailed to complain and that the airline, a few days later, offered her a voucher for a free flight to certain cities. She declined.

Animals on flights have become a lightning rod for controversy in recent years, with some passengers grumbling their fellow travelers are taking advantage of federal law to get humble household pets on planes. From 2016 to 2017, American Airlines recorded an increase of over 40 percent in customers who flew with a service or support animal.

Several airlines have tightened restrictions on service and emotional support animals in recent weeks.

The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration has no problem with carry-on hamsters. “Hamsters are welcome in our checkpoint. Their container would typically go through the X-ray while the owner would hold the hamster as the passenger walks through the metal detector so the creature is not subjected to radiation,” according to TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz.

It’s up to airlines whether they allow hamsters on board. Most major carriers such as American, Delta and United, however, don’t allow rodents over concerns about safety and health.

Emotional support animals are usually dogs and cats, but have included squirrels and sheep.

Aldecosea says Pebbles was a true comfort animal and she had her doctor’s letter certifying the rodent. Dwarf hamsters grow no more than four inches and weigh less than two ounces. A typical cellphone is longer and twice as heavy.

A Miami Beach High grad, Aldecosea played volleyball at Barry University before transferring to Wilson College in Chambersburg, Penn., last year. It was during her first lonely semester there that Aldecosea developed a painful golf-ball size growth in her neck, leading to a cancer scare.

Frazzled that fall, Aldecosea decided she needed a distraction. At a Pennsylvania Petco, she bought calm and quiet Pebbles. The hamster lived in her dorm room in a small plastic cage with a green spinning wheel, always scurrying to the front of the cage to greet her owner.

“She was so loving. It was like she knew I needed somebody,” said Aldecosea.

In November, Aldecosea learned the growth was benign, but it was still painful. Withdrawing from school and going home hoping to have it removed, Aldecosea booked a Spirit flight from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Fort Lauderdale.

Several days before, she twice called Spirit to verify that the hamster could fly. The rep told her it was fine — an assurance that Spirit, after reviewing the conversations, agrees was given to Aldecosea. “Our reservation representative, unfortunately, did misinform the guest that a hamster was permitted to fly as an emotional support animal on Spirit Airlines,” spokesman Dombrowski wrote in an email.

When Aldecosea showed up that day, she said, the first Spirit agent checked her emotional support pet in with no problem. Pebbles was in a small cage that fit regulations for carry-on luggage.

“They gave me the wrong information more than once,” said Aldecosea, now a student at Texas State University.

But as she walked toward the security checkpoint, a second Spirit employee chased her down, hollering that rodents were not allowed. She said Spirit agents told her she could not put the hamster in the cargo hold either.

After hectic discussions, an outraged Aldecosea accepted a flight later that day to try and figure out what to do with Pebbles. But she had no friends or family in town to pick up Pebbles. It was then, Aldecosea insists, that an employee suggested letting Pebbles go free outside or flushing her down the toilet.

For hours, Aldecosea said, she struggled with what to do. She contacted at least six rental car agencies, but no cars were available during the busy holiday season and she wasn’t old enough to rent a car anyway. A Greyhound bus would have taken days to get to South Florida.

With her flight boarding soon, she pondered whether to just let Pebbles free outside. She said she considered it more humane to end her life right away, and not let her run around scared in the cold, only to die getting hit by a car.

“I didn’t have any other options,” she said.

---

more here, including a vid link that discusses therapy snakes: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/0...t-alleges.html

and here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...208-story.html

hhmmm was it really a choice between letting her hamster get hit by a car or to flush it?

would u flush your ESA hamster? ESA goldfish? ESA snake? whattabout your ESA gator?

;)

I would never flush or hurt any animal. I would not have boarded that plane. There is no excuse. None. While we can't know what is going on in her head or the real story....ya somethings off. I would have shipped my hammy overnight or same day to the destination.

I was about to post this, you beat me to it. This ESA crap is getting out of hand, she couldn't give it away? Hire a pet sitter to watch it while she went home? Come on, she took a flight later that day there was time to figure out what do to with the poor thing.

I read that ghastly story. It's hard for me to believe it's real. Although if you are not emotionally stable enough to fly w/o your hamster, I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility you're not stable enough to find alternatives to painfully ending it's life.

Let's say, I hope her story is fabricated in an effort to get a payout from the airline and/or some internet fame.

If she really did do this, she's clinically nuts and should be banned from owning animals. To many alternatives available to justify what she did.

Seriously though - who would do that????

So if they told her to jump of a cliff she would? :rolleyes:

I see people at the VA with ESA's. And they bark, and growl. I'm like ummmNO! And with signs that clearly state only SERVICE ANIMALS are allowed. Not ESA's. Drives me up a wall! I'm taking boople with me next time...maybe she will eat a little nippy growls dog! Oops my esa ate your esa animal. Sorry about that!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hilabeans

I read that ghastly story. It's hard for me to believe it's real. Although if you are not emotionally stable enough to fly w/o your hamster, I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility you're not stable enough to find alternatives to painfully ending it's life.

Let's say, I hope her story is fabricated in an effort to get a payout from the airline and/or some internet fame.

If she really did do this, she's clinically nuts and should be banned from owning animals. To many alternatives available to justify what she did.

Seriously though - who would do that????

---

several stories state that she will be suing the airline. i think that's what needs to happen. it needs to go to the courts and the courts will ultimately decide the law of the land. in the meantime, airlines, restaurants, etc. need to beef up their policies on ESA's.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

So if they told her to jump of a cliff she would? :rolleyes:

---

sadly i think she would ponder whether to hang around the airport and have a long drawn out demise from starvation and boredom OR to end it immediately by jumping off a bridge before choosing the latter.

Ummm, wow. Can we flush the girl?

We need to flush the whole planet if this is how stupid and useless people are now. Even if all drains did lead to the ocean pretty sure a hamster isn't Nemo.

I think this is either fabricated OR she did it for the sole purpose to get attention / sue. I believe the airlines (at least Delta I think) are requiring people have written health cert on their ESA and limit the species, etc. and they inform people before they fly, so this chick most certainly knew she wouldn't be allowed to board with it before she came.

I also think, that if she is so emotionally attached to this ESA that she can't live without it (travel, etc.) then she would not have flushed it... Hence my statement earlier that this smells like a scheme to me. If she is this emotionally unstable that she is willing to kill her ESA, then she needs professional help...and probably to be in a facility of some kind getting therapy.

She would have had options... contact animal control, for example, or contact a family member or friend to come get it... So again, more fuel for the idea that this was a setup on her part if not a fabrication all together.

This would count as animal cruelty, correct? In that case, shouldn't she be charged?

Oh dear lord. This is even worse than the person who sued McDonald's because they spilled their own hot coffee in their lap and it burned them. Because coffee is hot. She flushed her pet because an airline employee told her she should? Now what will she do without the emotional support! It's a freaking hamster. She could have just put it him her purse and no one would have known.

An Eye for an Eye...
Thirty days in jail, getting swirlies every day. :grabbed:

I believe 99% of ESA claims are BS. It is just people trying to skirt the law and take their stupid obnoxious pets everywhere with them.
"I cannot possibly live or travel without my hamster! Poor me, you have to comply with me, because I am completely tortured and dysfunctional without my precious hamster friend!" "Oh, you say I cannot board the plane without my precious, life-saving, hamster god? Ok, well, I will just flush it to death then, I was just making it up the whole time, I don't really care about it"

I love animals but I HATE obnoxious pet-owners that feel entitled to take their pets everywhere with them. It is getting ridiculous in my town. So many people try to take their dog everywhere with them, and it is annoying as heck to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

Oh dear lord. This is even worse than the person who sued McDonald's because they spilled their own hot coffee in their lap and it burned them. Because coffee is hot. She flushed her pet because an airline employee told her she should? Now what will she do without the emotional support! It's a freaking hamster. She could have just put it him her purse and no one would have known.

---

The hot coffee thing is a lot different then this, since it was a 79 year old lady who ended up with 3rd degree burns. McDonalds at the time was heating their water to 180 degrees, and seeing as the Court agreed with the plaintiff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Liebeck was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered third-degree burns on six percent of her skin and lesser burns over sixteen percent.^[12] She remained in the hospital for eight days while she underwent skin grafting. During this period, Liebeck lost 20 pounds (9.1 kg) (nearly 20% of her body weight), reducing her to 83 pounds (38 kg). After the hospital stay, Liebeck needed care for 3 weeks, which was provided by her daughter.^[13] Liebeck suffered permanent disfigurement after the incident and was partially disabled for two years.^[14][15]

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Other documents obtained from McDonald's showed that from 1982 to 1992 the company had received more than 700 reports of people burned by McDonald's coffee to varying degrees of severity, and had settled claims arising from scalding injuries for more than $500,000.[2] McDonald's quality control manager, Christopher Appleton, testified that this number of injuries was insufficient to cause the company to evaluate its practices. He argued that all foods hotter than 130 °F (54 °C) constituted a burn hazard, and that restaurants had more pressing dangers to worry about. The plaintiffs argued that Appleton conceded that McDonald's coffee would burn the mouth and throat if consumed when served.[18]

---

I'm not going to comment on the current debate, because I'm not emotionally invested in the situation. but leave that old lady alone y'all lmao.

Nothing surprises me anymore... I spend a lot of time looking at what others do or say with a dumbfounded look on my face.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The whole ESA thing aside, there is something people realize: you can not put faith in what some call center flunky tells you on the phone; if a policy is important, it's important enough to get in writing. It doesn't matter if you're dealing with your landlord, a car dealer, the IRS, your mortgage company, your insurance company... get it in writing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Starscream

The hot coffee thing is a lot different then this, since it was a 79 year old lady who ended up with 3rd degree burns. McDonalds at the time was heating their water to 180 degrees, and seeing as the Court agreed with the plaintiff.





I'm not going to comment on the current debate, because I'm not emotionally invested in the situation. but leave that old lady alone y'all lmao.

---

THANK YOU. that poor woman's labia was MELTED to her thigh; she NEEDED surgery to correct her body. she only sued to cover medical costs. she does NOT deserve to be the face of frivolous lawsuits.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

THANK YOU. that poor woman's labia was MELTED to her thigh; she NEEDED surgery to correct her body. she only sued to cover medical costs. she does NOT deserve to be the face of frivolous lawsuits.

---

I think there were actually a few cases of people suing McD's over hot coffee.

...and while that's a pretty disturbing case, I just can't get on board with the sue-happy nature of our country sometimes. We're actually known for it around the world. McD's is a large enough company however that they undoubtedly would have covered medical expenses from a case like that because one or two pictures could have multi-million dollar consequences as far as negative publicity goes. It's a no-brainer to a corporation like that.

Man sees an icy patch on the sidewalk.
Man walks into the icy patch on the sidewalk.
Man sues the owner of the property the sidewalk is on.
Man wins the case due to lawyers over-exaggerating the pain and agony he suffered.
Lawyers pocket 80% of the amount.
...his insurance company makes up the money by simply charging everyone else more for their premiums.

It's like personal responsibility/common sense has been tossed out completely. This is what happens in the medical industry as well. It's why medical malpractice insurance for physicians is INSANELY priced.

Side note - I had never actually researched the 'hot coffee' lawsuit so thank you to Starscream and ttaylorrr for shedding some light on that issue.

I cannot imagine needing an ESA and then being so quick to 'flush' it (if that even really happened) if it was really that important to you. The airline scheduled her on a 3 hr later flight so she could figure out what to do with it but she decided, nah, I'll just trash this little life that was *so necessary* so I can make the quicker flight. Guess she didn't need any emotional support for the loss of a life at her own hands. It really does feel like a scam to sue. Poor lil hammie if he did indeed get flushed.
:(

How in the world can anyone think forceful drowning is humane??????? :confusd: . It's a terrible, painful way to perish. Gasping, struggling to breathe, choking and having your lungs fill with water is just a criminal and painful way to go. Emotional support? Wow. :colbert: Basic criminality.

I'm surprised that PETA is criticizing this girl, since they do so many mercy killings of their own. You'd think they'd be applauding her.