A woman was kicked off a flight in Connecticut Wednesday after her “emotional support pig” began to disturb passengers, reports say.
The woman, who was not identified by the airline, was asked to leave a US Airways flight on November 26 after her companion animal became disruptive and frightened other passengers.
Witnesses say that the woman brought a 70-pound pig on board and tied its leash to the arm of her chair. But when the pig became unruly, passengers got uncomfortable.
One passenger, Jonathan Skolnik, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said he was shocked and dismayed to find a pig on the plane. He said the woman hurriedly brought the animal onboard in a duffel-like bag.
“But it turns out it wasn’t a duffel bag. We could smell it and it was a pig on a leash,” the professor said. “She tethered it to the arm rest next to me and started to deal with her stuff, but the pig was walking back and forth.”
“I was terrified, because I was thinking I’m gonna be on the plane with the pig,” he added.
The woman had cleared the animal ahead of time with airline authorities.
The pig was allowed on the plane under federal rules instituted in 2012 that allow support animals in passenger cabins on flights. The Department of Transportation will allow dogs, pigs, monkeys–and even miniature horses–on a flight if they fulfill the role of support companions to people with emotional problems.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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