A man who brought a gigantic Great Dane on a flight has been slammed by fellow passengers for misusing a law meant to support people with disabilities. Earlier this week, content creator and life coach Rob shared an Instagram video of a man boarding an airplane with his Great Dane in tow. The caption suggested that the dog was an emotional support animal (ESA) accompanying his human on a commercial flight.
However, the flight attendant’s unenthusiastic reaction to the massive dog mirrored the general opinion online.
In the Instagram video shared by Rob, the flight attendant was seen greeting the dog’s owner without any enthusiasm or even a smile. “Hey, welcome aboard,” she said, seconds before the Great Dane stepped on her toe.
“Ow,” the flight attendant cried out, and the dog’s owner apologised immediately. Sharing the clip on Instagram, Rob asked, “Have we taken this support animal thing too far?”
Watch the video below:
The question led to hundreds of responses on Instagram as well as X, where the video was reposted.
Passenger slammed
{{/usCountry}}The question led to hundreds of responses on Instagram as well as X, where the video was reposted.
Passenger slammed
{{/usCountry}}Many felt that a dog of that size should not have been allowed on the plane. “Emotional support for one person, emotional distress for hundreds! This is ridiculous,” wrote one person.
“As a person who had a Great Dane and viewing this one’s classic body language, this is NOT an assisted therapy animal,” another said.
“It's a made-up American thing, no where else in the world do support animals exist and have privileges outside of 'guide dogs' & or dogs trained to detect medical issues… Everyone is attached to their pet and in some way their pet provides them with comfort but that doesn't make them service animals,” an Instagram user opined.
“I am a dog lover but this is getting absolutely ridiculous. I am all for trained service animals… this is not one of them,” a user said.
The video collected a further 3.6 million views on the social media platform X, where some blamed the flight attendant for ‘overreacting’ when the Great Dane stepped on her foot.
Great Danes are one of the largest dog breeds, weighing anywhere between 50 to 82 kilograms. They are known for their enormous size, with males standing 30–34 inches tall. The breed's origins trace back to Germany, where they were initially bred as hunting dogs for wild boar.