This is something you don’t see every day and as a dog lover, it’s a shame. A TikTok user who goes by the handle @gibbon1215 shared a video of him flying across country with his dog named Darwin. The video has since gone viral and has received over 17 million views and 12,000 comments. RELATED: Should Airlines Offer Pet-Free Flights?
@gibbon1215 captioned the video (embedded below): “Who says Great Danes aren’t airplane dogs. Shoutout to @American Airlines for making our move to Brooklyn a piece of cake though! (Yes I bought 3 seats for us on the plane)”
@gibbon1215 Who says Great Danes aren’t airplane dogs. Shoutout to @American Airlines for making our move to Brooklyn a piece of cake though! (Yes I bought 3 seats for us on the plane) #greatdane #dog #gay #fyp #tiktok #newyork #brooklyn #doggo ♬ Funny Background – Stefani
A great majority of the comments were positive. In fact, it’s difficult to find one that’s not except on View From the Wing’s website, which is where I first discovered the video. Lukas, wrote, “I would have been livid to find that monster of a dog even remotely close to me on an airline.”
But the top comments on @gibbon1215’s post were:
TheLastLily07
I would 1000% gladly sit next to your buddy than some of these humans who remove their damn shoes!
Kelly Davis
Better behaved then most adults on the flight ?
Golden Chanterelle
Instantly demanding a refund for my recent flight, which unreasonably lacked a Great Dane
Eleni Garnetti
As a flight attendant … I would do anything for him on my flight
amanda
My flight anxiety would be nonexistent if I got to sit next to this angel
I was curious how @gibbon1215 got a 149lb dog on the plane so I did some digging around, which wasn’t too difficult because the next video on his page explains a lot. It turns out Darwin is a service dog and @gibbon1215’s unfortunately has Crohn’s Disease.
In the follow-up video, he explained this and showed his ostomy pouch, which collects stool. He says, “I have Crohn’s disease, which means I currently live with an ileostomy. Um, what that means is I basically have a little piece of my organ, my small intestine, that actually sits outside of my body.”
“How did I actually get her [Darwin] here? “I looked into a lot of options to try to figure out how I could possibly get her here. I looked into driving her myself, I looked into chartering a plane, I looked into having somebody else drive her, but just none of those options seemed really viable.”
“And when I asked how big was the crate underneath the plane, she ended up being bigger than the largest crate available. So that wasn’t gonna be an Option either. So I just researched, honestly, pet friendly airlines and started calling around, and I called American Airlines, and I just talked to the person, and I said that, hey, she’s a service dog. Like, what do I need to do? And I found out that if you have a service dog, no matter what their size, they’re technically allowed on the plane.”
“But when I told her that, uh, she weighs 149 pounds uh, they said, well, she should be comfortable, and you need to be comfortable. I said, of course. So I was like, how about I buy 3 seats on the plane? And they said, yeah, absolutely. That would be totally fine. And that would work.”
“So I then had to fill out this form with the department of transportation, and I submitted the form, and then she said, call this number after 45 minutes. So then I called that number, and they said, okay, well, she’s been approved. And then they sent me over her identification number for the flight, and I bought free seats with the agent, and that was pretty much it.”
@gibbon1215 seems like a great guy and he said he’s happy to answer any questions about traveling with Darwin or about what it’s like living with Crohn’s disease and ileostomy.
He also added it was “definitely a shocker for people walking through the airport to see a literal horse coming towards them.” But Zebrasarefun6789 wrote a comment for dog lovers would probably agree with, “I would have given up my pre-booked window seat to sit on the floor next to her.”
@gibbon1215 Replying to @Parker Roberts Hope this helps answer some questions I’ve been getting! This was just my experience flying with her, but happy to answer more questions, and I have endless content of her. ? #greatdane #dog #crohnsdisease #tiktok #fyp #ostomate ♬ original sound – Gibbon
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About service dog must perform a service for their owner. I wonder what service this particular dog provides for Crohn’s disease.
I think that it’s it really beginning to get out of hand not everyone wants to fly on a plane with huge dog frist only small dogs now 149 lb dog and also someone flew with a pig what’s next it really beginning to get ridiculous and you have to consider other people who feel uncomfortable around these animals I think it’s unfair to say if we don’t like it take a next flight we have appointments ,children and many other affairs that are we need to get to shame shame shame on all of you
Read that again..your last sentence. People need to be considerate of others needs. This dog is his trained service dog. He NEEDS THE DOG!
Ruff, ruff. People , grow up, get some education. And why don’t YOU drive, or take another mode of transportation? Better yet, sign up to defend your country and go over and fight in a combat zone (I did), most of you are too chicken and too selfish to defend your country. Or, what would it be like to lose the use of limbs or eyesight, or any other issue beyond your control. How would you want to be treated if it was you who needed a service animal?? I think you are rude, over privileged snobs that have never had empathy for anyone but yourselves. I fly with my service dog, a 90 lb black lab….BOO ! She is more behaved then most adults on flights these days. And for the flight attendants,thank you to the ones that are open-minded an courteous. So shut up, sit down, and let me and my service dog enjoy our flight.