Former city councilor gets into dogfight with JetBlue

Former Boston City Councilor Mike Ross and wife Karolina Chorvath have been livetweeting over they way they saw a JetBlue attendant has hounded them and their 15-pound shayna punim of a dog on a flight to, well, they haven't said, but that's not what's important right now.

At 7:38 p.m., Ross tweeted:

Just four minutes later, JetBlue responded that:

For safety reasons, pets must remain fully inside of their carrier at all times during flight. Thank you for following crewmember instructions.

Ross was not going to just sit there and take that. He responded:

She is fully within and latched to carrier. Only her head is out a small hole to prevent her from feeling as if she is stuffed into a small sack. Why can’t your attendant be reasonable and show grace rather than cause trauma to dog?

He added:

She is fully within and latched to carrier. Only her head is out a small hole to prevent her from feeling as if she is stuffed into a small sack. Why can’t your attendant be reasonable and show grace rather than cause trauma to dog? ...

Forcing a small dog’s head into a tiny carrier for no other reason other than to cause panic in the dog and so that the
@JetBlue attendant can pull some BS power-trip. That’s the definition of “safety reasons.”

JetBlue quickly continued the white zone/red zone argument:

Naturally, the last thing we would want is for an animal to panic during flight. This is why it's important to check their fitness to fly before boarding. Customers have been hurt by pets, that's why we have guidelines that require them to be closed. #Safety

Oh, really, Vernon? Ross replied:

Our dog never flew better. In fact on the flight out she was fawned over by your awesome crew. It wasn’t until this one angry attendant forced her head into the carrier that things went bad. We are big fans of your airline. I urge you to investigate this situation.

Also:

JetBlue countered:

We trust that you're a good pet owner and your dog is undoubtedly darling, but we must also implement our pet guidelines onboard all JetBlue flights to ensure that we can continue to accept pets now and in the future. Thank you for your feedback.

Chorvath jumped in:

the dog is hooked in the carrier. she’s never been so distressed. the attendant was aggressive and insistent she be shoved inside. Regardless of rules, the attendant was unnecessarily rude. And regarding the rule, please re-evaluate your inhumane “safety regulations.”

Need I remind you that pets have recently died on flights due to compliance with airline “safety” protocols on planes? I don’t think an airline (no less a single flight attendant) has the credibility to assess what is necessary for an animal’s safety. Come on now. Do better.