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Henry Krinkle

(208 posts)
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 08:46 PM Feb 2018

Spirit Airlines employee told student to flush emotional support hamster down the toilet

WTF is wrong with people?

This whole "emotional support" animal excuse is getting out of control.

Assuming this story is correct, both sides need to be held accountable... whomever told her to flush the critter,
and the girl for actually doing it (when she could have easily given it to someone that was leaving the airport).

A college student said she flushed her emotional support hamster down the toilet after Spirit Airlines refused to let her bring her furry pet on the plane.

Belen Aldecosea, 21, of Miami Beach, Florida, told the Miami Herald that she contacted Spirit Airlines before her flight from Baltimore to South Florida on Nov. 21, 2017, regarding traveling with her dwarf hamster, Pebbles. Aldecosea claimed the airline told her it was not a problem to bring her hamster on the flight.

However, when the student arrived at the airport she said the airline refused to let Pebbles on the plane. Aldecosea said she did not have many options since her family was in Florida and her friends were hours away. The student claimed a Spirit employee suggested she either flush Pebbles down the toilet or let the animal free.

Aldecosea skipped her flight and tried to rent a car instead, but said she was too young to rent one. So she did what she felt was the most humane choice.

“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.”

The student said she considered letting Pebbles run free outside but could not bear thinking of her hamster freezing to death or getting hit.

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


http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/02/08/spirit-airlines-employee-told-student-to-flush-emotional-support-hamster-down-toilet-student-alleges.html
13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Spirit Airlines employee told student to flush emotional support hamster down the toilet (Original Post) Henry Krinkle Feb 2018 OP
A college student. Seriously. A college student. Who needs emotional support from a hamster. Serious lindysalsagal Feb 2018 #1
Sorry, I dont buy this story dhol82 Feb 2018 #2
A lot of news sources are reporting the incident Henry Krinkle Feb 2018 #7
What's not to love? LisaL Feb 2018 #8
And she will deserve every pathetic moment of it dhol82 Feb 2018 #12
This smells like a hoax blogslut Feb 2018 #3
What would be the hoax part? LisaL Feb 2018 #9
If it is, its not a very bright or well thought out one. Henry Krinkle Feb 2018 #10
This will show up on a law school torts exam soon Gothmog Feb 2018 #4
Student who says she flushed hamster down toilet in Spirit Airlines flap has a replacement rodent, l Eugene Feb 2018 #5
Yeah right. nt Codeine Feb 2018 #6
Smells like bullshit. linuxman Feb 2018 #11
This poor girl was obviously in a difficult place to begin with. The airline is reprehensible. StevieM Feb 2018 #13

lindysalsagal

(20,730 posts)
1. A college student. Seriously. A college student. Who needs emotional support from a hamster. Serious
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 08:49 PM
Feb 2018

Seriously.

Is this college student getting financial aid?????

dhol82

(9,353 posts)
2. Sorry, I dont buy this story
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 08:49 PM
Feb 2018

Saw it elsewhere. Does not make sense.
This girl is going to flush her emotional support animal down a chemical toilet just because she needs to get onto a flight leaving in nine hours?
Not buying it.
Besides,this popped up on Fox. That alone makes the story suspect.

 

Henry Krinkle

(208 posts)
7. A lot of news sources are reporting the incident
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 09:25 PM
Feb 2018
https://news.google.com/news/story/db_v6VrRwQkVjGMby4CdMVg8ZlZIM?hl=en&ned=us&gl=US

NBC news
USA Today
NY Post
CBS News
HuffPo
Time
Chicago Tribune

I believe all the news sources are accurately reporting what they were told,
but what they were told might not be accurate (or even the truth).

It might not make sense why she'd do something like that, but it also doesn't make sense
to make something like that up. Either way, she's going to be loved tenderly by the Internet.
4Chan alone will make her life a living hell.

dhol82

(9,353 posts)
12. And she will deserve every pathetic moment of it
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 10:25 PM
Feb 2018

Who would flush their support animal down the loo???
I think this poor child made a very poor choice. Which ever one it was.

LisaL

(44,974 posts)
9. What would be the hoax part?
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 09:30 PM
Feb 2018

Airline admits she was told she could fly with the hamster, but it wasn't accurate, and when she showed up, she wasn't allowed to fly with the hamster.
So which part is the hoax?

 

Henry Krinkle

(208 posts)
10. If it is, its not a very bright or well thought out one.
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 09:31 PM
Feb 2018

IANAL, but claiming the airline told her to do that, and the way this has gone viral, seems
like a solid defamation case by Spirit Air.

Eugene

(61,948 posts)
5. Student who says she flushed hamster down toilet in Spirit Airlines flap has a replacement rodent, l
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 09:06 PM
Feb 2018

Source: USA Today

Student who says she flushed hamster down toilet in Spirit Airlines flap has a replacement rodent, lawyer says

Christal Hayes, USA TODAY Published 6:22 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2018

The lawyer for a student who says Spirit Airlines told her to flush her emotional-support hamster down the toilet says she's still distraught over the incident but now has a replacement rodent for comfort.

Belen Aldecosea's account of what happened after she checked into her November flight from Baltimore to South Florida — which has gone viral on social media — comes as airlines have been struggling with policies regarding comfort animals onboard flights.

Aldecosea's attorney, Adam Goodman, acknowledges there isn't audio or video proof showing a Spirit employee suggesting she flush her hamster, but he believes his client.

"It's hard, but you really have to look at the circumstances because this whole thing only makes sense with someone telling her to (flush the animal)," Goodman told USA TODAY. "...This is a situation where there weren't body cameras or anything."

-snip-


Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/08/student-who-says-she-flushed-comfort-hamster-down-toilet-spirit-airlines-flap-has-replacement-rodent/320062002/

StevieM

(10,500 posts)
13. This poor girl was obviously in a difficult place to begin with. The airline is reprehensible.
Thu Feb 8, 2018, 10:30 PM
Feb 2018

She was not emotionally equipped to resist the coercion she was subjected to. The airline placed her under duress and should be ashamed of themselves.

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