Russian airline Aeroflot stripped a man of his frequent flier miles after he smuggled his overweight cat into the cabin on a flight from Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia, according to CNN.
Mikhail Galin’s furry friend, Viktor, weighed in at 10 kilograms (22 pounds) at check-in, two kilograms over the airline‘s limit for pets allowed in the cabin. However, Galin wasn’t content to let Viktor travel in the cargo hold.
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“To all attempts to explain that the cat won’t survive there on an 8-hour flight with the baggage and would haunt her in her nightmares for the rest of her life, she (the Aeroflot staff member) replied that there are rules,” Galin wrote in a now viral Facebook post published on November 6.
After deciding to miss the flight, he took to social media to ask his friends for help in finding a “mini-Viktor” somewhere in Moscow.
“The operation to replace the fat cat Viktor with a miniature cat Phoebe was successful—the scales showed an acceptable norm and the airline employee kindly issued a boarding pass wishing a happy flight,” wrote Galin, who swapped Phoebe out for Viktor before boarding the plane.
Aeroflot launched an investigation into the incident after learning of the viral post and ultimately decided to exclude Galin from its loyalty program and cancel his air miles, citing “several instances of deliberate violation” of its rules.
“This information was confirmed by recording from video surveillance cameras—during the pre-flight inspection procedure, the passenger took out a large-sized cat that looks like a photograph of the cat he posted,” the airline said in a statement.
Galin called the punishment “normal” but some social media users quickly came to his defense, accusing the airline of fat cat shaming.
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