Southwest Airlines kicked a woman off a flight to California when her eight-week-old puppy whined in the carrier and she tried to comfort the pet

Southwest Airlines employees kicked a woman off a flight when her newborn puppy whined in the carrier, and she petted the puppy from the outside to comfort him.

A video released last week showed a new pet owner being escorted off a flight from Colorado Springs to California after arguing with flight attendants over touching her new puppy.

Sara Price, another passenger who posted a video on TikTok, said Sitka, the eight-week-old puppy, was crying gently and his unnamed owner gave him a pet from outside his crate.

Accordingly PeopleThe woman was told that “the luggage rack must be fully zipped and the dog must be under the seat,” which were rules she followed.

And before they even boarded the plane, a Southwest woman checking boarding passes told the pet owner, “If you can’t keep this dog calm, you may not be able to fly.”

A video released last week showed a new pet owner being escorted off a flight from Colorado Springs to California after she got into an argument with flight attendants for touching her new puppy

Sara Price, another passenger who posted a video on TikTok, said Sitka, the eight-week-old puppy, was crying gently and his unnamed owner gave him a pet from outside his crate

According to Sara, the carrier bag was fully zipped up and she was petting her puppy through the grille outside.

Sara said in her video caption, “The puppy whined a little and the flight attendant who had everyone on board came up to her and said, ‘If you…’ [dog] If it’s not quiet, you may not be able to fly.” She puts her hand in the soft carrier bag and pets the puppy. He stopped whining.

“We get on the plane and she has the carrier on her lap, still petting the puppy, when the same flight attendant comes over and says the carrier needs to be completely closed and placed under the seat.”

“Everyone around us was like, ‘What’s going on!?'”

Sara said the dog was “whining quietly” – so the woman “leaned over and started petting him from the outside of the carrier, but right at the net.”

In the clip, which has gone viral online, the owner can be heard calling the flight attendant “a mean person.”

Southwest said in a statement: “Our employees are trained to ensure customers follow protocol. In this situation and after the customer repeatedly refused to follow the instructions of our crew, the decision was made to disembark the disruptive passenger.”

She added: “All the flight attendants formed a group at the front of the plane and decided that we needed to return to the gate and that she should be removed from the flight.”

In the clip, which has gone viral online, the owner can be heard calling the flight attendant “a mean person.”

She also says she will “never fly Southwest again.”

Meanwhile, passengers around the owner appeared to show their support, saying: “This is ridiculous.”

Sara’s husband, who was sitting with her, tells the owner, “It’s not like you even had the dog outside, you petted him.”

Then he says to the manager, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

According to the IndependentThe couple who filmed the incident were also banned from the flight due to their “attitude”.

Sitka, the eight-week-old puppy, whined quietly on the journey

A handful of other passengers also reportedly got off the plane in protest.

Sara and her husband were reimbursed for their tickets, but the dog’s owner was not.

Southwest said in a statement: “We are aware of the videos and our initial reports indicate that the customer would not comply with keeping her dog’s kennel closed, which is our policy.”

“Our staff are trained to ensure customers follow protocol. In this situation and after the customer repeatedly refused to follow the instructions of our crew, the decision was made to disembark the disruptive passenger.”

After watching the video, one person told Sara, “Thank you for standing up for her.”

Another said: “I want to pet my dog, check on him and make sure he’s okay.”