MARCY'S FLIGHT NUN TRAVEL BLOG- ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL!

 Early in my career I got use to animals being in the cabin. Usually the animals were fabulous " seeing eye" dogs.  Some were mixed breeds. Often they were Goldens or Labrador Retrievers. I once had a German shepherd mix that had one blue eye.  He was beautiful!  His human was a young boy who boarded late in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan., right before take-off .  They were headed to Detroit with a connection going on to Chicago. The boy had limited vision, but needed the dog for many tasks.

Shortly after take-off the boy started to weep.  Thinking he may be frightened I went to comfort him.  The problem was he was worried for his dog.  They had difficultly getting to the airport and hadn't had time to take the dog for a walk before boarding. The boy was concerned his dog would have an accident- or get sick. He didn't know when they'd have a chance again to let the dog have water or relieve himself.

I relayed the issue with the cockpit.  This was back in the day when pilots could come back to the cabin without concern for safety issues. (Before 911) The First Officer came back to talk with the boy, assuring him we'd get the dog walked and watered at the next stop, which was Traverse City.

Evidently the pilots radioed ahead, because as soon as we landed the agent came onboard and introduced himself to the boy, asking if the dog would allow him to take him for a walk. With a little coxing the dog did go with the agent, and a quick walk took care of the situation. God bless the agent! The agent was so gentle and good with both the boy and the dog!  The dog even licked the agents hand as a thank you as he was returned to his master! This was followed by a nice drink of water.  The little boy was happy his buddy was taken care of. They seemed to be quite the pair- both totally dedicated to each other.

Then there was the missing Iguana! This was on a DC-9 aircraft, which held 99 passengers. A boy had snuck his pet into his backpack without telling his folks.  After take-off he opened his backpack and the Iguana took off!  The boy panicked and finally told his parents- who in turn told me.  Now- how do I handle this?!

With the parent's permission I had the sad little boy stand at the front of the cabin with me and made an announcement.  We had a missing pet!  I had the boy tell the folks what it was, that it wan't dangerous, and that he was sorry he snuck it onboard. Poor little guy, I felt sorry for him.  He was really attached to his Iguana!

All at once I heard a shriek coming from mid-cabin! Bingo!  We found the Iguana! The lady who let out the shriek had discovered him in her large carry on  purse! The call light went on from the man behind her, who had captured the Iguana as he tried to escape!  The boy ran back and retrieved his beloved pet.  There were a lot of grins and well wishes from the cabin's passengers, which sort of surprised me.  But the little boy was a darling little sad eyed guy, so won over the hearts of most. There were even a few that begged the parents not to be too hard on the boy!

There was a time we were boarding passengers in Detroit going nonstop to Seoul, Korea.  A woman came onboard, wrapped up in her coat, not making eye contact, and acting rather strange.  Once we started taxiing toward our take-off the passenger next to her motioned to me.  Sitting on the coat wrapped woman's lap were two puppies!  I immediately let the cockpit know we had a problem.  No papers, no immunizations, nothing that was required to bring those puppies into the country! And no proper travel cages!

Back to the terminal we went. On came Custom agents who took the puppies plus the woman off the aircraft.  I was told that there was quite a "Smuggling Ring" for certain dogs going into Korea!

Not all animals were smuggled onboard.  One couple came on with a bird cage.  The problem was there was no way to stow the cage!  Looking inside I realized they had a pair of song birds in there! Since we were coming from Europe,  I was surprised they were not listed on the manifest for "in cabin animals".  Come to find out they were given misinformation from reservations.  The birds had to be removed.  I felt badly that the passengers had to part with their birds, but knew they would of had to be destroyed once they entered the U.S.

And then there were the stow-aways!  I'm talking about mice!  From time to time I would see one in the galley or companion way.  I tried to catch them a couple of times.  They seemed to be able to fit in the smallest cracks in the floor boards, thus evading my capture! Mostly these little guys would be on the Convair- but I did see a few on the DC-9! I often wondered how long they could last living and flying around the skies!

The most unusual animal to be in the cabin was a little pot belly pig! It was in a animal carry case that fit under the seat. It was listed as a "support animal"- so I assumed it was a small dog.  I asked to see the little critter and got my first look at this mini piglet!  I have to say, it was really cute!  It' made little tiny grunting sounds and snuggled into it's owners hands like a baby.

Being an animal lover, I always enjoyed seeing the "seeing eye dogs" and watching how smart and helpful they were. As for the bunnies, pot belly pig, cats, birds, and puppies, I liked them all- as long as the owners were good at keeping them contained!  I was just grateful there were no snakes on my aircraft.  I'm not afraid of them- I'm just not fond of them! 

As for the mice- well, I was glad that in my entire career I never had passengers notice them. The mice seemed to find their own areas for inflight!

And that's some of my "critter" stories.  

"All Creatures Great And Small- God Loves Them All!"

Until Next Time, Dear Readers!

Life Is Indeed An Adventure!  And Critters In The Cabin Makes It An Adventure Indeed!