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Is this fat shaming?
NorthCascades
Posts: 10,970 Member
in Debate Club
The Russian airline Aeroflot has stripped a passenger of his air miles after he boasted online of sneaking his overweight cat onboard by switching him for a slimmer cat during check-in.
Mikhail Galin wrote in a Facebook post last week that his cat Viktor was judged too fat to be taken into the passenger cabin during a layover in Moscow on a trip from Latvia to his home in Vladivostok, in the far east of Russia.
“The weigh-in showed that the animal had fattened up to 10kg, a level not allowed for the cabin,” Galin wrote. The cabin limit is 8kg.
Galin could not abandon his feline friend to the cold luggage hold, so he refused to fly and said he took a “strategic decision to find a similar cat of a lower weight” in Moscow.
The next day, Galin returned to the airport with Viktor, the cat double and its owners, and successfully checked into business class after “the operation to switch Viktor the fat cat for Phoebe the miniature kitty was successful”.
He posted a photo of Viktor sitting on the plane with a glass of bubbly, becoming an instant hit with Russia’s cat lovers.
Aeroflot, however, was in no mood for jokes and told AFP the incident had triggered an investigation.
The investigation into the cat-swap revealed that Galin broke airline rules by switching Viktor for a similar animal weighing 7kg, which was confirmed on video surveillance footage, the airline said.
“Aeroflot has taken the decision to take this passenger out of its frequent flyer programme. All of the miles collected during his time in the programme will be annulled.” Galin had nearly 400,000 miles on his account, according to reports.
The decison angered many Russians, with some saying it amounted to fat-shaming and others attempting to start a flashmob in protest.
“Offending a kitty! Nobody will forgive this,” wrote Bozhena Rynska. Other owners of large pets feared that Galin’s disclosures could prompt the airline to tighten restrictions, making the trick impossible to repeat.
“Many of us often quietly flew around with our fat kitties, and now we won’t be able to,” Svetlana Pogorelskaya said on Facebook.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/12/aeroflot-fails-to-see-the-funny-side-after-passengers-fat-cat-swap
Mikhail Galin wrote in a Facebook post last week that his cat Viktor was judged too fat to be taken into the passenger cabin during a layover in Moscow on a trip from Latvia to his home in Vladivostok, in the far east of Russia.
“The weigh-in showed that the animal had fattened up to 10kg, a level not allowed for the cabin,” Galin wrote. The cabin limit is 8kg.
Galin could not abandon his feline friend to the cold luggage hold, so he refused to fly and said he took a “strategic decision to find a similar cat of a lower weight” in Moscow.
The next day, Galin returned to the airport with Viktor, the cat double and its owners, and successfully checked into business class after “the operation to switch Viktor the fat cat for Phoebe the miniature kitty was successful”.
He posted a photo of Viktor sitting on the plane with a glass of bubbly, becoming an instant hit with Russia’s cat lovers.
Aeroflot, however, was in no mood for jokes and told AFP the incident had triggered an investigation.
The investigation into the cat-swap revealed that Galin broke airline rules by switching Viktor for a similar animal weighing 7kg, which was confirmed on video surveillance footage, the airline said.
“Aeroflot has taken the decision to take this passenger out of its frequent flyer programme. All of the miles collected during his time in the programme will be annulled.” Galin had nearly 400,000 miles on his account, according to reports.
The decison angered many Russians, with some saying it amounted to fat-shaming and others attempting to start a flashmob in protest.
“Offending a kitty! Nobody will forgive this,” wrote Bozhena Rynska. Other owners of large pets feared that Galin’s disclosures could prompt the airline to tighten restrictions, making the trick impossible to repeat.
“Many of us often quietly flew around with our fat kitties, and now we won’t be able to,” Svetlana Pogorelskaya said on Facebook.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/12/aeroflot-fails-to-see-the-funny-side-after-passengers-fat-cat-swap
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Replies
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Sounds like the owner is an entitled little *kitten* who feels the rules don't apply to him and people are trying to justify his behavior by pulling the political correctness card. The airline apparently has a weight limit for animals in the cabin, it's not checking the bodyfat % of the animal.32
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follow the rules, and quit being so "woke" all the time.20
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nighthawk584 wrote: »follow the rules, and quit being so "woke" all the time.
Agreed. Cant trust Russian fat cats! Lol8 -
Definitely an entitled jerk who doesn’t think the rules apply to him. 😤6
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He should have flown an airline that didn't have that rule, or ask if he could buy a second seat for his furry friend.3
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I honestly think this falls into the, "We needed something silly to write about today and this fits that." I think it's funny...the airline is getting its name all over the news in a sort of odd way too. That's just gooooooood marketing.
Who goes to all the trouble of finding a stand-in cat? I'd put meow-meow in cargo and call it a day. :shrug:9 -
I imagine most people are protesting this firmly with tongue in cheek. This will probably be one of the few protests that the Russian government won't violently crack down on.8
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Kitty should try Keto to lose those extra kilos.10
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I sense a spinoff - CFP - Cat Fitness Pal12
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Anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that they have no shame...fat or otherwise.16
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I am allergic to cats. In my opinion they shouldn't even be allowed onboard.
Note: I have never been on an airplane, and never plan to.6 -
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I sense a spinoff - CFP - Cat Fitness Pal
That whole idea is how the *kitten* swear filter came to be.
Go to "search" - enter "cat" into the title field, enter "within 3 days of April 1, 2013" in the date field and observe the shenanigans.
oh lordie, and please don't start bumping them...at least wait till April 1.3 -
OMG! That’s freaking hilarious!!! 😂1
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Considering how dangerous it is to entrust airlines with pets, I don’t blame him for breaking the rules in the slightest. He was a fool to post about it, however, and deserved to lose his miles as a result. There’s no valid reason for the weight limit - presumably it was created to prevent people from bringing other types of pet, such as large dogs aboard. A fat cat is not a large dog.10
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I would assume the weight limit, and the weighing of the cat is to control the balance of the airplane and overall total weight of the plane.
That kind of matters when you are going to be flying.
He could have paid for a seat for his cat instead of using deception or putting it in the cargo area.2 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »I would assume the weight limit, and the weighing of the cat is to control the balance of the airplane and overall total weight of the plane.
That kind of matters when you are going to be flying.
He could have paid for a seat for his cat instead of using deception or putting it in the cargo area.
From what the article says, the weight limit was on pets in the cabin, so buying a seat was never an option. Human beings on planes are not weighed and weigh much more or less than five pounds off from one another, so a five pound difference in the weight of a cat has nothing to do with the balance and overall weight of the plane.10 -
rheddmobile wrote: »Considering how dangerous it is to entrust airlines with pets, I don’t blame him for breaking the rules in the slightest. He was a fool to post about it, however, and deserved to lose his miles as a result. There’s no valid reason for the weight limit - presumably it was created to prevent people from bringing other types of pet, such as large dogs aboard. A fat cat is not a large dog.
Or maybe if one worrirs about airline conditions for pets they don't travel with them instead of claimimg snowflake sratus and thinking he is above the rules.9 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »Considering how dangerous it is to entrust airlines with pets, I don’t blame him for breaking the rules in the slightest. He was a fool to post about it, however, and deserved to lose his miles as a result. There’s no valid reason for the weight limit - presumably it was created to prevent people from bringing other types of pet, such as large dogs aboard. A fat cat is not a large dog.
Or maybe if one worrirs about airline conditions for pets they don't travel with them instead of claimimg snowflake sratus and thinking he is above the rules.
Why would someone take a cat on vacation? If you are moving, take them in a carrier. Oh boy, someone is going to be triggered @Theoldguy1 🤣3 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Sounds like the owner is an entitled little *kitten* who feels the rules don't apply to him and people are trying to justify his behavior by pulling the political correctness card. The airline apparently has a weight limit for animals in the cabin, it's not checking the bodyfat % of the animal.
I really hope this pun was intended!4
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