Amtrak Guest Rewards - What the heck, Amtrak?: 75-Year-Old Woman's Pet Cat Snatched by Amtrak

Amtrak officials confirmed they confiscated Mimi the tabby at Penn Station and gave her away.
An elderly grandmother traveling home after a holiday visit with her family is reeling after Amtrak officials at Penn Station confiscated her beloved cat during a transfer between trains — then sent the animal home with someone else.
Alexandra Kroutchinina, 75, had made it halfway home to Montreal, Canada after bringing her gray Tabby "Mimi" with her on a visit to relatives in North Carolina on Dec. 15 when Amtrak officials at Penn Station barred her from boarding the second leg of her trip home on the grounds that only service animals were allowed aboard, she said.
"They took the documents and the cage with the cat, asked the cat's name and let me take the train," Kroutchinina, whose primary language is Russian, wrote in an e-mail to DNAinfo. "Only on the train I realized that I might never see my cat again."


Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110107/midtown/elderly-woman-trying-find-pet-cat-after-amtrak-confiscated-it#ixzz1ANccLz7n

"I'm old! Rules don't apply to me!"

Sorry, Amtrak does not and never has allowed pets.

"I'm old! Rules don't apply to me!"

Sorry, Amtrak does not and never has allowed pets.

Seriously? Did you read the article? It appears she speaks very little english and didn't understand they were going to give her cat away. I'm pretty cynical but your response is beyond even me.

I would hope the people currently holding the cat return it to her family.

Today's update

Amtrak Plans to Return Cat Taken From Passenger at Penn Station
January 8, 2011 11:35am Updated January 8, 2011 11:36
Alexandra Kroutchinina plans a Penn Station reunion with beloved cat Mimi on Monday.


Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110108/midtown/amtrak-plans-return-cat-taken-from-passenger-at-penn-station#ixzz1ASlFJQmS

I see that the poor lady is driving from Montreal to NY to pick up her cat. Hopefully Amtrak at least offered free r/t train tickets to them for the trip.

I see that the poor lady is driving from Montreal to NY to pick up her cat. Hopefully Amtrak at least offered free r/t train tickets to them for the trip.
RT tickets for the cat that isn't allowed on the train, ever? I don't think so. Amtrak handled it badly, it'd been nice if they'd have done more. The NY Staff in particular is rude and impatient with just about everyone they see - I'm not surpised they screwed up so bad its a PR nightmare for them. It's a crappy situation for the woman regardless, glad she is getting her pet back. Personally, I don't think I'd have left the station without my pet.

I checked out their policy when I wanted to take my cat on a trip and it was pretty clear that no animals allowed. Sucks but that's the way of it.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

The Amtrak quotes in the follow-up article are laughable.

The root cause of this mess is Amtrak's inconsistent application of its own rules. They pretty explicitly ban pets on all trains, and yet this woman was allowed to board a train in DC with her cat. From what I hear, crews let this rule slide with some regularity.

I've seen the same sort of problem caused by inconsistent application of the ID requirement. Last summer, I was boarding the Piedmont in Greensboro when a large group--I believe it was a mother, grandmother, and quite a few children/children's friends--was not allowed to board the eastbound train (the last one of the day) because one or more of them lacked acceptable ID. They didn't have any trouble boarding the westbound train that morning.

I heard crew members talking about how Amtrak was probably going to have to send a van out to pick them up and take them home after they botched the whole thing. To avoid having to deal with this fallout, Amtrak has to make a decision: either apply the rules consistently or not at all.

I've seen the same sort of problem caused by inconsistent application of the ID requirement. Last summer, I was boarding the Piedmont in Greensboro when a large group--I believe it was a mother, grandmother, and quite a few children/children's friends--was not allowed to board the eastbound train (the last one of the day) because one or more of them lacked acceptable ID. They didn't have any trouble boarding the westbound train that morning.

I heard crew members talking about how Amtrak was probably going to have to send a van out to pick them up and take them home after they botched the whole thing. To avoid having to deal with this fallout, Amtrak has to make a decision: either apply the rules consistently or not at all.

Actually if it was the conductor who refused them boarding, then they were applying the rules consistently. If someone else refused them boarding, then I agree.

But the conductor is supposed to perform a random ticket check when pulling the tickets. Since it's random, one could easily miss being selected on their first run, but could well be unlucky enough to be selected on their return run. And that's not a policy that Amtrak can easily change either, since the TSA is involved.

And unlike the cat situation, the rule about having ID is made quite clear in many places and during booking, in fact its even printed on the tickets.

Who needs ID? Just adults over 18? What if you have a teenager without ID but the conductor doesn't know if they're really under 18?

Actually if it was the conductor who refused them boarding, then they were applying the rules consistently. If someone else refused them boarding, then I agree.


In this case, they were not allowed to board by station employees. This points to confusion about the current ID requirement. It states (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am/Layout&cid=1241267382692) that, while customers do not need ID to board, they need to produce ID in response to random checks. Some station employees interpret this as a general ID requirement and others don't.

While the ID requirements are stated in multiple places, they aren't completely clear--and could be simplified quite a bit if Amtrak simply stated that ID is required for all riders when purchasing/picking up tickets and when boarding and riding the train. As it is, in my experience the current ID requirement is both unclearly stated and inconsistently applied.

Who needs ID? Just adults over 18? What if you have a teenager without ID but the conductor doesn't know if they're really under 18?

Officially anyone over 18 must have ID; as well as anyone under 18 traveling by themselves.

However, these days most high schools provide ID to their students, so it's generally a good idea to bring those along just in case.

In this case, they were not allowed to board by station employees. This points to confusion about the current ID requirement. It states (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am/Layout&cid=1241267382692) that, while customers do not need ID to board, they need to produce ID in response to random checks. Some station employees interpret this as a general ID requirement and others don't.

Yes, in this case it seems like someone over stepped their bounds. The only way this comes out differently is if they were picking up their tickets from the agent. But if they had tickets in hand and went no where near the agent, then he had no right to deny them boarding.

While the ID requirements are stated in multiple places, they aren't completely clear--and could be simplified quite a bit if Amtrak simply stated that ID is required for all riders when purchasing/picking up tickets and when boarding and riding the train. As it is, in my experience the current ID requirement is both unclearly stated and inconsistently applied.

It seems pretty clear to me:

Passenger Identification
Amtrak has undertaken heightened security measures for the benefit of our customers.

Valid Photo Identification Required
Photo ID Required
Amtrak customers 18 years of age and older must produce valid photo identification when:

Obtaining, exchanging or refunding tickets
Storing baggage at stations
Checking baggage
Sending Amtrak Express shipments
Onboard trains, in response to a request by an Amtrak employee

Please note that unaccompanied children 15 and older must also produce valid photo ID when purchasing tickets.

Random Ticket/ID Checks
Following federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guidelines, we regularly conduct random ticket verification checks onboard trains to ensure that passengers are properly ticketed. Please be prepared to show valid photo identification to a member of the onboard crew upon request.

What is a Valid ID?
To be valid, your identification must be current and in-force. The following forms of identification are acceptable for persons 18 and older:

One piece of photo identification issued by a government authority, orTwo pieces of identification, at least one of which is issued by a government authorityExamples of acceptable forms of ID include:

State or provincial driver's license
Passport
Official government-issued identification (federal, state or county government or foreign government)
Canadian provincial health card ID card with photo
Military photo ID
Student identification (university, college or high school photo ID)
Job Corps photo ID

Policy Regarding Ticket Purchase
Passengers purchasing tickets from station ticket agents or on board trains from conductors must provide photo identification and be at least 15 years old.

Passengers boarding at any staffed station or station with a Quik-Trak kiosk should purchase tickets prior to boarding the train.

Tickets purchased on board include a service fee built into the fare. This fee cannot be waived.

Yes, in this case it seems like someone over stepped their bounds. The only way this comes out differently is if they were picking up their tickets from the agent. But if they had tickets in hand and went no where near the agent, then he had no right to deny them boarding.

It seems pretty clear to me:

Unlike other stations I've traveled through, agents at the Greensboro station check IDs before allowing riders into the tunnel to board.

My point is that the policy is more complicated than it needs to be. Just require ID to pick up tickets and to travel and be done with it. Requiring that it be available for presentation upon request on the train--but technically not to board--seems to me like just overcomplicating things with no benefit. And that wiggle room results in the occasional unpleasant incident, which could be avoided by clarifying the policy and applying it consistently.

To get back to the original post, the pet issue is slightly different. The policy is clear: no pets. The problem is that it's inconsistently enforced. The general solution applies to both: make sure the rules are clear and applied consistently.

Just some general thoughts about this situation...

Okay, so it was against the rules to bring a pet on the train, and it was not Amtrak's problem she didn't know that and/or couldn't read English, her primary language being Russian. Fair enough.

But the reality is, I have no doubt in my mind that there was some power-tripping, belligerent employee, probably one based in the New York City area (where I am from as well, I have no problem criticizing my own) that happened to see the cat that probably wasn't bothering anyone and went ballistic, and felt the need to do something about their pent-up anger from the early days when they were bullied around on the school playground by the bigger kids.

I can't tell you the number of times that myself or somebody else within earshot has been yelled at by a conductor for something ridiculous. I usually prefer to be in the quiet car, and though I might be holding my cellphone while in the quiet car WITH NO INTENTION OF USING IT THERE, the conductor feels the need to inform me about the quiet car policies at a rather loud volume (in the quiet car?) and when I politely tell him I wasn't using my cellphone nor intending to do so, he gets even more belligerent and makes allusions to having me kicked off the train.

Just a note to any on-board Amtrak employees reading this thread: we, the customers, are not the enemy at all. We want Amtrak to succeed and we want you to enjoy that success so we in turn can enjoy good train service. We want Amtrak to be well-funded (much like airports and highways) and its employees to be treated well so they will treat us well. We are on your side 100% but when you have this US vs. THEM mentality, it makes it awfully hard. We know that your jobs are hard, we know that the management you must answer to isn't perfect, we know that Congress and the White House hasn't always considered train travel a top priority in this country but please don't take it out on us because believe it or not, our interests are aligned with yours. Power-tripping and being belligerent does not do anything for anybody, it only creates more unnecessary tension.

But the reality is, I have no doubt in my mind that there was some power-tripping, belligerent employee . . .

I couldn't agree more. There's absolutely no doubt, given the small amount of information available, that whoever enforced Amtrak's rules was both power-tripping and belligerent.