Posted on 08/06/2016 12:20:59 PM PDT by rickmichaels
This is the story of a small, cute dog and a big railway Crown corporation — and what happened when the two collided.
My son, Paul, and his wife, Aysha, recently made an emergency visit to London, Ont., when Aysha’s father suddenly became ill.
The most sensible way to get to London was by Via Rail on a 6:45 a.m. train. The train was mostly empty, due to the early hour. As it was a hastily-arranged trip, they had no pet sitting arranged for their dog, a highly intelligent and very well behaved, non-allergenic bichon-poodle mix named Archie.
They’ll admit, they should have checked about travelling with a pooch. But because they were flustered and because they’ve travelled by air so much with him, they didn’t check if dogs were allowed on Via trains.
They put Archie in his airline-approved carrier which fit by their feet. Air Canada, Porter and Westjet allow you to travel with dogs with certain restrictions, so long as they’re in an approved carrier. You can travel on a GO Train with a dog. The TTC allows dogs in off-peak hours.
All methods of transportation allow service dogs.
The couple boarded the train to London at Union Station in Toronto with no trouble. They weren’t trying to hide Archie. They didn’t try to smuggle him on board. They were honestly unaware of Via’s, “No dogs,” policy.
The problem started when the ticket collector came around and spotted the offending Archie, who was sitting quietly in his carrier.
She told them they’d have to get off the train at the next stop — Brantford. When they pleaded they were just an hour away from London and were visiting an ailing relative, the official doubled down on her threats.
If they didn’t get off at Brantford, she’d call the cops.
Look, I’m the first to say rules are rules. But the train was almost empty. It was one of those situations where a little discretion would have gone a long way.
Paul got off at Brantford, while Aysha continued to London, borrowed her parents’ car and drove back — a round trip of more than two hours, with heavy traffic and construction on the highways.
Instead of being at her father’s hospital bedside, Aysha spent two hours recovering her dog (and husband). In fairness Paul says the lady at the Brantford station was very kind and offered to get him lunch.
A spokesman for Via Rail apologized for forcing Paul and Archie off the train, but said the employee was just upholding Via policy.
“Passengers are not allowed to bring animals on-board for health and safety reasons,” said Mylene Belanger.
“Some animals may have a history of aggressive behaviour (including biting) and their masters may not always be able to control them,” she said, adding other passengers may be allergic to them.
“Accepting animals on-board may also disturb other passengers if, for example, a dog barked repeatedly and uncontrollably.”
Other than service dogs, all other animals must travel in the baggage car. Because most baggage cars are not air-conditioned, they cannot transport animals from June 1 to Sept. 22.
Archie was contained in his carrier and quiet the whole time.
Belanger admitted that, given there were so few people on the train, and that they were just an hour from their destination, it would have made sense to show flexibility and simply warn Paul and Aysha of Via’s policy.
Frankly, I think Via needs to loosen up on the dog rule. Young people especially are trying to take transit to cut down on traffic congestion — yet they’re stymied by overly bureaucratic rules.
Dumping a paying passenger (although they refunded the portion from Brantford to London), seems overly punitive — and doggone bad customer relations.
Archie
Cute little guy.
Dogs need a Bill of Rights.
Dogs need a Bill of Rights , yes. (And so do people now in Obama- transformed- Amerika. )
“Rules are rules...” Yeah, tell that to Hillary, Loretta Lynch or James Comey.
“Rules are rules...”
But rules for the sake of rules are bullcrap.
1951 our family returned from my dad’s 3 year tour of duty in Japan. With us was our mutt, puddles. His crate was placed on a small upper deck area where all the dogs were required to be.
My brother worked and worked on finding the right person to approve our dog be brought to an inside hallway/alcove section. It worked and he rode the pacific Ocean indoors instead of being exposed to the elements which were quite severe. My brother had to care for puddles and hose down the deck area where the few dogs were. He also contracted with other dog owners to service their dogs for a fee. He made some money. Pretty good for an 11 year old.
Once in the states we had to negotiate again with the right person(s) to allow our crated dog to ride in our cabins instead of the hot and stuffy baggage car. Again that worked and the dog rode from California to Illinois in the luxury of a private and cooler cabin while the crate was left empty in the baggage car. A lot of rules were broken or ignored by quite a few people.
I doubt this could happen today.
Years ago I learned that there is a "gatekeeper" personality. These people tend to get themselves jobs where they can throw their weight around.
Examples of these petty tyrants abound in doctors' offices, low-level government positions, public school administration offices.
Some of the worst ones I've encountered are female flight attendants; though I've seen male flight attendants behave like fascists too.
I hate to say it, but most of these horrid people are women. (Am I allowed to say that? [/s] - I'm a woman myself.)
Today I found out about the use of exploding anti-tank dogs during World War II. These dogs, usually Alsatians, were also called “Hundminen” or “dog mines.” They were trained to carry explosives on their bodies to enemy tanks, where they would then be detonated. No, it did not end very well for the dogs in question.
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