Next time you get annoyed with the brave men and women of the Transportation Security Administration make you take your shoes off and put your laptop in a bin, remember what they’re dealing with.
This week it was a snake. A large snake. There’s not a TSA agent alive who signed up for dealing with snakes.
Agents at Tampa International Airport got more than they bargained for when they stumbled across a woman’s emotional support Boa constrictor crammed in a suitcase.
Agents spotted it when the suitcase it was inside of passed through the X-ray machine. After what had to have been a couple of double-takes and Hey-are-you seeing-what-I’m-seeing?’s, they confronted the owner.
The snake was named Batholomew the Boa constrictor because is it even a pet Boa constrictor if you don’t go with an alliterative name?
The snake’s owner informed agents that Bartholomew was her emotional support animal. Agents let the airline make the call, and they said absolutely not.
Most airlines do not allow snakes in carry-on luggage because they’ve proven to be the Houdinis of the reptile world. However, some do allow snakes to be kept in checked bags.
Let’s Rein In Emotional Support Animals A Little Bit
Emotional support animals have gotten way out of control, not just on planes either, but everywhere.
I don’t think it should count as an emotional support animal if its escape means someone else’s emotional well-being is compromised.
Some people are deathly afraid of snakes. Now, imagine someone like that trapped 30,000 feet in the air inside a metal tube with one. That’d be a much bigger issue than someone who couldn’t stand the thought of leaving there’s at home for a week.
I’m terrified of birds. If someone unleashed an emotional support canary — even accidentally — I’d barricade myself in the bathroom until we landed.
If you need to fly, please keep your pets at home, and at the very least don’t cram them in a suitcase.
I shouldn’t even have to ask that…
Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle
