Ok, I'm confused.
You can take small dogs and cats on planes.
That makes sense. We're all good there.
You can take miniature horses on planes as service animals.
Ummm ok, maybe. They're kinda big, but who am I to decide how airlines run their business.
So at this point, I have no idea what to expect from airlines when it comes to animals (whether service or not) on planes. Based on the parameters above, it would seem that you just need to have a small, tame(ish) animal, and you should be all good.
So let's say someone (hypothetically, of course) has a little 10-pound fury friend that fits comfortably in a carrier that fits under the seat in front of them. Should be fine, right?
Well, it wasn't for Gerald Tautenhahn and his pet opossum, Zatara.
Now, Gerald was able to hop on a JetBlue flight with Zatara without an issue. It took him all the way to Austin, Texas where he was able to visit with his family.
However, when he tried to return home to California, the flight crew asked him to get off the plane and explained to him that Zatara was not allowed to fly. According to Gerald, he made sure to call in before flying with Zatara in order to ensure that there wouldn't be any issues. He explained that she was an opossum, and they told him that he was good to go. He even checked their website. Although it didn't say anything about opossums being approved, it didn't say they weren't allowed on the plane.
(Courtesy of JetBlue.com)
Despite this, JetBlue stood their ground and told Gerald and Zatara that they couldn't fly together.
The first update we saw about them was thanks to Fox 7 Austin, who caught up with them right before they boarded a United flight, who told him that Zatara was welcome to ride on their plane.
But we were able to catch up Gerald ourselves, and he gave us all the latest on Zatara and their ques to get home.
That's right! We talked to the owner of this cutie!
You can listen to the full interview right here!