A New Zealand couple is demanding a refund after flying 13 hours next to a flatulent bulldog on Singapore Airlines.
According to the New Zealand news outlet Stuff, the man and woman were flying from Paris home to New Zealand. But they got more than they bargained for, as the small dog next to them started drooling and ripping off a symphony of farts they will never forget.
Gill and Warren Press were already unhappy that they weren’t warned they’d be sat next to the service dog. They paid extra for premium economy, but cooperated and sat down for the long flight half-way around the world.
It started with snorting
“I thought it was my husband’s phone, but we looked down and realized it was the dog breathing,” said the wife, Gill Press.
The owner and dog had the window, with the dog on the floor, drooling all over Gill’s husband’s leg. They asked for new seats, but premium-economy was full. When offered economy, they refused.
Then the farts started.
Eventually, they just couldn’t take it anymore. The couple finally decided to move to the empty economy seats offered by the flight attendants.
“We didn’t get the experience we paid for”
An incident report was filed. After a couple weeks the airline offered the couple $74 vouchers for their website. The couple refused, at which time the airline offered $200 vouchers for each of them.
Gill says they paid $3000 for their tickets. The vouchers didn’t reflect the difference in value between the premium economy seats they bought, and the economy seats they were relocated to. They want the full amount difference for the time they were in economy.
“We didn’t receive the experience we paid for,” she said.
Singapore Airlines has repeatedly apologized about the incident. Whether or not the Press’s will get what they want, who knows. But we expect any future flights they won’t be sitting next to a service dog.
Not an isolated incident
Such incidents occur more than most people realize. A dog defecated on its owner on an American Airlines flight in late 2017, before leaping onto a passenger’s lap. Loud and aggressive dogs have bitten passengers, with other incidents reported many times since by passengers and crews.
American surveyed 18,000 passengers during one weekend in May 2018. They found nearly 58 percent said only trained service dogs should be allowed in the cabin. They also surveyed 7,347 employees, with 65 percent saying they have experienced disruptions involving comfort animals. Nearly 25 percent said aggressive and threatening behavior was most common, while 11 percent reported animals peeing and pooping in the cabin.
People have tried flying with peacocks, squirrels, kangaroos, and the list goes on.
