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How much would you do for your pet?
By Sanika Nalgirkar
Last updated on Nov 10, 2023
Everyone loves their pets and would do anything for them. But many people believe one woman may have taken that a little too far.
The woman in question was a passenger traveling on a Delta flight who was reportedly caught breastfeeding her cat mid-flight.
A video that has since been deleted from TikTok appears to show passengers pleading for the flight attendants to stop a woman from breastfeeding her cat. However, in spite of the crew's requests, the woman allegedly continued doing so.
After the resistance from the woman, a message was allegedly sent through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) hoping to contact the “Red Coat” team, so that they could take some action against the woman after landing. The Red Coat team is ground staff trained to handle customer issues.
A Delta flight attendant decribed the incident on TikTok.
Ainsley Elizabeth, a flight attendant from that flight mentioned in the video, posted on TikTok seemingly explaining the situation.
“This woman had one of those, like, hairless cats swaddled up in a blanket so it looked like a baby. Her shirt was up and she was trying to get the cat to latch and she wouldn't put the cat back in the carrier. And the cat was screaming for its life," she said, via Newsweek.
While the woman thought she was caring for her pet, even the cat seemed to have hated it.
Elizabeth continued by saying, "What does she do at home if she's doing that in public? And then security met the flight just to tell her that she couldn't do that again, cause it was weird and gross."
Airlines have their fair share of disruptive passengers, however, this situation was terrifying as other passengers watched this bizarre scene unfold. When asked to stop, the woman allegedly defended herself by saying, “Although, I think [the passengers] are enjoying this, because like I said, I’m not terrible to look at."
People have questioned the video's authenticity.
According to Snopes, the flight attendant's account of the situation is the only evidence that any such situation even occurred, with no images or video of the actual incident available to verify.
However, a couple of weeks after rumors of the woman breastfeeding a cat on a plane began circulating, a social media account called The Gooch posted a video parodying the situation, duping many people into believing it was the original video. Eventually, the woman in the parody video admitted the video was staged.
Delta has never confirmed or denied whether a woman actually breastfed a cat on one of their flights.
Delta has clear policies regarding pets and breastfeeding.
According to Delta’s policy, "Delta fully supports a woman's right to breastfeed on board Delta and Delta Connection aircraft and in Delta facilities. Breast pumps are allowed on board."
Breastfeeding is allowed in-flight however, that means human babies. Whether that policy includes animals is still unsure, probably because no one would have thought that people do that.
Pets are also allowed in-flight but they are to remain in a carrier bag under the seat for the duration of the entire flight so as not to disturb other passengers.
There has been an increase in in-flight incidents related to animals.
The airline seems to have tightened rules and regulations against animals due to a reported 84% increase in incidents relating to animals in the past few years. Many people travel with their pets, such as emotional support animals or service animals, but due to the incidents relating to animals, many airlines have banned emotional support animals claiming only service animals would be allowed in-flight.
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties.
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer and an Editorial Intern at YourTango who writes on entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.