Dog "incidents" in UA terminals; Slow Response Gives Paws {Consolidated]
Feb 10, 2018, 3:51 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1999
Location: JFK, LGA, EWR
Programs: AA Platinum (Lifetime), United GS, HHonors Diamond, Shangri-la Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 549
Dog "incidents" in UA terminals; Slow Response Gives Paws {Consolidated]
it was this past sunday afternoon, super bowl sunday, at terminal C newark, gate 111. a pomeranian wearing a “service animal” vest pooped on the carpet in front of the boarding lanes. nobody was in that immediate area because the flight was delayed. the human who was accompanying the “service animal” fled the scene, carrying the offending pooch away in a small bag without attempting a cleanup. a waiting passenger immediately got up and told the gate agent, who made a call, presumably to maintenance or facilities or whatever department one calls to report a feat of doggy derring doo.
the same passenger who reported the poop immediately stood guard and made sure nobody wandered into the area. he was great… really calm… never once got hot under the collar. after about twenty minutes, a pilot wandered by and the passenger asked him if maybe he could get somebody to tend to the mess. the pilot went back to the gate agent, who made another call, but apparently she was barking up the wrong tree because nobody came to clean it up.
then the pilot saw a cleaning guy, somebody wearing a “lisbon cleaning services” shirt. he pleaded with him to clean it up… the cleaning guy said he would dispatch somebody with gloves. in the meantime, he rolls a garbage can and a recycling bin into the vicinity and rearranges the boarding lanes ever so slightly so nobody can get near the area. or so he thought. at least one person did walk through the poop zone and another dragged a rolling bag through, taking some incremental excrement with him. to be fair, though, he did walk through lane #2, so i suppose he should have known better.
about ten minutes later (a half hour or so after the dog did his business), somebody arrives... gloveless.
there is much discussion and negotiation between the two cleaning professionals… and much surveying of the area. the gloveless wonder takes a wet rag and applies it directly to the dog treat by attaching it to the end of a swiffer sweeper type device and presses down and scrapes. this is exactly the opposite of what i would have done, but, heck, i didn’t have any gloves either. (there’s a lot of stuff in my carry on - life on the road can be ruff, after all - but i don’t carry a pooper scooper or latex gloves. if the dog needed to charge his iPhone, however, i would have been ready to assist.)
so the guy scrapes and presses down hard, which essentially grinds the doggy doo deep into the carpet. then he disposes of the rag. then he comes back with a mop (i kid you not) and he proceeds to mop up the carpet while pressing down hard. (i’m no cleaning pro, but I didn’t know mops could be used on carpet… the things you learn as a frequent flyer!) this continues for a minute or three during which he manages to spread what’s left of the dog’s surprise (and no delight) over an area of about five or six square feet. he looks at the mop, he looks at the “clean” area, nods with a satisfied smile and places the mop back in his cart, perhaps to be used again on some other unsuspecting surface.
forgive me while i rant (although i realize some might consider this dogma), but i thought this response was kind of crappy… not only did they take a half hour to clean up the carpet after this dog did his business, but they left the carpet smelly and stained and riddled with bacteria. what they needed was some of that super absorbent industrial dry powder that is made specifically for cleaning up things like this and other unpleasantness. and then they needed to cordon off the area until they shampooed it and sanitized it.
that’s the leash they could do, in my opinion.
the flight left about three hours late, after a gate change. i didn’t stick around to see what the peacock did.
the same passenger who reported the poop immediately stood guard and made sure nobody wandered into the area. he was great… really calm… never once got hot under the collar. after about twenty minutes, a pilot wandered by and the passenger asked him if maybe he could get somebody to tend to the mess. the pilot went back to the gate agent, who made another call, but apparently she was barking up the wrong tree because nobody came to clean it up.
then the pilot saw a cleaning guy, somebody wearing a “lisbon cleaning services” shirt. he pleaded with him to clean it up… the cleaning guy said he would dispatch somebody with gloves. in the meantime, he rolls a garbage can and a recycling bin into the vicinity and rearranges the boarding lanes ever so slightly so nobody can get near the area. or so he thought. at least one person did walk through the poop zone and another dragged a rolling bag through, taking some incremental excrement with him. to be fair, though, he did walk through lane #2, so i suppose he should have known better.
about ten minutes later (a half hour or so after the dog did his business), somebody arrives... gloveless.
there is much discussion and negotiation between the two cleaning professionals… and much surveying of the area. the gloveless wonder takes a wet rag and applies it directly to the dog treat by attaching it to the end of a swiffer sweeper type device and presses down and scrapes. this is exactly the opposite of what i would have done, but, heck, i didn’t have any gloves either. (there’s a lot of stuff in my carry on - life on the road can be ruff, after all - but i don’t carry a pooper scooper or latex gloves. if the dog needed to charge his iPhone, however, i would have been ready to assist.)
so the guy scrapes and presses down hard, which essentially grinds the doggy doo deep into the carpet. then he disposes of the rag. then he comes back with a mop (i kid you not) and he proceeds to mop up the carpet while pressing down hard. (i’m no cleaning pro, but I didn’t know mops could be used on carpet… the things you learn as a frequent flyer!) this continues for a minute or three during which he manages to spread what’s left of the dog’s surprise (and no delight) over an area of about five or six square feet. he looks at the mop, he looks at the “clean” area, nods with a satisfied smile and places the mop back in his cart, perhaps to be used again on some other unsuspecting surface.
forgive me while i rant (although i realize some might consider this dogma), but i thought this response was kind of crappy… not only did they take a half hour to clean up the carpet after this dog did his business, but they left the carpet smelly and stained and riddled with bacteria. what they needed was some of that super absorbent industrial dry powder that is made specifically for cleaning up things like this and other unpleasantness. and then they needed to cordon off the area until they shampooed it and sanitized it.
that’s the leash they could do, in my opinion.
the flight left about three hours late, after a gate change. i didn’t stick around to see what the peacock did.
Feb 10, 2018, 4:03 pm
#3
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Haze gray and underway
Programs: UA 1K 2MM, HH Diamond, Marriott 'clink clink' Titanium
Posts: 1,783
Feb 10, 2018, 5:57 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 11,513
The offending owner should have been fined under local laws, I think. And the "service" pom should have not flown.
Why do I spend my time waiting in the Red Carpet Club when I could be watching the brown carpet club?
Why do I spend my time waiting in the Red Carpet Club when I could be watching the brown carpet club?
Feb 10, 2018, 6:22 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Haze gray and underway
Programs: UA 1K 2MM, HH Diamond, Marriott 'clink clink' Titanium
Posts: 1,783
Now let’s get real!!!
Somebody could have just rolled up the carpet.
what could be done with the ‘soiled carpeting could be another thread.
Somebody could have just rolled up the carpet.
what could be done with the ‘soiled carpeting could be another thread.
Feb 11, 2018, 1:52 am
#13
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
They really should start policing/fining people with fake emergency support animal vests. I'm surprised that it took a peacock for UA to bat an eye on this issue and even now they're dragging their feet.
If I park my car in a handicap space almost anywhere in the world without a permit I get a hefty ticket in the best case, or booted/towed/window smashed in on the worse case. The reason for that is clear, my selfishness on parking is causing people with real disabilities and limited mobility to park further away possibly limiting their choices.
Similarly, people who abuse the support animal laws are being selfish by putting the professional service animals used by the disabled at risk of attack by sparky the family dog. Think of it this way, if your job was to help a blind person navigate a complex building like EWR the last thing you'd want is someone coming over to distract you or worse bite you. It's also unfair to people with allergies and sensitivities to stupidity like this. I have been in pre-check lines with these people who hold up the lines with their service pets which makes me wonder how they had the intelligence to qualify for the program.
Frankly I'd hope all the airlines and TSA put their foot down on these abuses. They should outright ban all of this unless you have actual proof of a disability. The state should provide a permit that people with disabilities carry around with them to prove that they have a disability and their animal is a professional and not sparky trying to travel with their air headed owner. They do this for something as relatively trivial as parking spots surely they could do this for something as vital as service animals.
Safe Travels,
James
If I park my car in a handicap space almost anywhere in the world without a permit I get a hefty ticket in the best case, or booted/towed/window smashed in on the worse case. The reason for that is clear, my selfishness on parking is causing people with real disabilities and limited mobility to park further away possibly limiting their choices.
Similarly, people who abuse the support animal laws are being selfish by putting the professional service animals used by the disabled at risk of attack by sparky the family dog. Think of it this way, if your job was to help a blind person navigate a complex building like EWR the last thing you'd want is someone coming over to distract you or worse bite you. It's also unfair to people with allergies and sensitivities to stupidity like this. I have been in pre-check lines with these people who hold up the lines with their service pets which makes me wonder how they had the intelligence to qualify for the program.
Frankly I'd hope all the airlines and TSA put their foot down on these abuses. They should outright ban all of this unless you have actual proof of a disability. The state should provide a permit that people with disabilities carry around with them to prove that they have a disability and their animal is a professional and not sparky trying to travel with their air headed owner. They do this for something as relatively trivial as parking spots surely they could do this for something as vital as service animals.
Safe Travels,
James
Feb 11, 2018, 2:53 am
#14
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355