If this is a dog’s life, sign us up! Two corgis were recent passengers onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ33 from San Francisco to Singapore where they travelled in business class.
The corgis’ owner Tommy Suriwong posted about the experience on Facebook on Nov 20, sharing that the dogs – Mindy and Peanut – accompanied him and his partner on the 17-hour flight from San Francisco to Singapore, on their way to Thailand where they were relocating.
The dogs were allowed in the cabin after they showed emotional support animal documentation, Suriwong said.
He added in his post that Mindy and Peanut – who are mascots for the owners’ art school – were well-behaved and “mostly slept and cuddled” during the flight. No ruff flight for these doggos.
Before the flight, the owners helped the dogs acclimatise by making them listen to sounds of airplanes on YouTube for several nights; Suriwong added that the dogs slept through the noise most of the time.
He and his partner also brought Mindy and Peanut to the airport before the flight to meet the ground crew, where they got the “celebrity treatment” as the ground crew took selfies with the doggos and gave them lots of cuddles and pats.
Suriwong shared that he chose the row nearest to the exits in consideration of those who may be opposed to dogs. The dogs were also given anxiety medication called gabapentin during the flight, which Suriwong said were timed perfectly “so they’d fall asleep right as we were about to take off and land”.
According to Singapore Airlines’ website, pets are generally not allowed in SIA’s flight cabin but assistance (such as guide or hearing dogs) and emotional support dogs – as is the case with Mindy and Peanut – are exceptions. Passengers bringing these dogs need to comply with specific conditions and regulations. The dog has to be at least four months old and be trained to obey commands, behave appropriately and must not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other passengers.
SIA added that small dogs no larger than the size of a two-year-old child may sit on the passenger’s lap, while larger dogs must sit on the cabin floor in front of the passenger seat. A moisture absorbent material must also be placed on the cabin floor underneath the dog at all times.
