Woman Claims Airline Told Her To Flush Her Hamster Down The Toilet

Free it or flush it.
That’s the choice a college student says she had to make when she couldn’t take her emotional support animal on a flight.
Belen Aldecosea says she called Spirit Airlines to twice to make sure she travel with her pet hamster Pebbles and the airline said ‘no problem.’
But when she got to the airport, Spirit refused to let Pebbles board.
Aldecosea says an airline employee suggested she either release her pet into the wild or flush it down the toilet, which she ultimately did.

Spirit Airlines says the choice to kill the hamster was Belen’s and Belen’s alone.
The airline issued a statement that reads in part:
“At no point did any of our agents suggest this guest (or any other for that matter) should flush or otherwise injure an animal.”
The airline admits an employee “did misinform the guest that a hamster was permitted to fly as an emotional support animal.”