The Fallout of When Pigs Don't Fly: Planned Thanksgiving Trip Turns into Nightmare for Wallingford Resident

A planned flight to South Carolina to visit her family on Thanksgiving turned into a nightmare for Wallingford’s Rachel Boerner.

Boerner, 29, was thrust into the media spotlight after the Daily Mail identified her as the woman who brought her 70 to 80-pound potbellied pig onto the plane as an “emotional support” animal only to be told to leave when passengers complained after the pig, Hobey, had defecated on the floor and was deemed to be “disruptive” and was reportedly squealing uncontrollably.

Not only did Boerner miss spending Thanksgiving with her family after being ejected from the flight at Bradley International Airport last Wednesday, she has had to deal with the fallout of the Daily Mail publishing personal photos from her Facebook page online.

Boerner, a 2003 graduate of Lyman Hall, spoke with the Meriden-Record Journal about how the situation was affecting her and said “clearly not well” as tears streamed down her face.

The situation has also affected her co-workers. The owner of the business told the Record-Journal that reporters from the United Kingdom have been calling his cell phone after spotting a picture of him and Boerner together on Facebook. She has since taken down her Facebook page.

Boerner had gone through several security checks before getting on the plane with Hobey and a U.S. Airways spokesperson said the pig was allowed onboard because the passenger said the animal was there for ”emotional support.”

The airport was following guidelines for such a case. According to a CNSnews.com 2012 article potbellied pigs must be allowed passage if they are used for emotional support, according to the Department of Transportation.

While some may scoff at the idea of a pig serving as emotional support, Victor Kinoian, owner of My Pet Piggy LLC of Rhode Island where Boerner purchased Hobey, posted on his Facebook page that it is not uncommon at all.

“They bring enjoyment to many many people, professionals, children, elderly, disabled, veterans, families, teachers, couples that aren’t able to have kids, people that have grown up their entire lives without a pet due to allergies,” Kinoian wrote.

Kinoian also said that the airline failed Boerner.

“She called the airlines numerous times to make sure her affairs were in order to travel that day,” he wrote. “She Walked Hobey thru the terminal with ease & was welcomed aboard the plane without incident. After passengers became very standoffish towards Hobey, he had an accident, & as we all know, accidents do happen. American Airlines knew they needed to accommodate my customer, so after calling & triple checking for approval to make sure a pig as an ESA (emotional support animal) was allowed to fly, she received no help from them that day or placed in an appropriate seat to ensure safe travels & proper accommodation for her ESA. Do we not have designated parking for the handicap? If size was an issue, why wasn’t it addressed prior to her boarding the plane?! Why let someone trying to travel home for the holidays, go thru all the motions, wait till she gets seated (mid plane), to then make the assessment that things weren’t going to work.”

Do you think the airline failed Rachel Boerner? Let us know in the comments below.

Kinoian also called for a clearer definition on what should be considered disruptive and what types and sizes of animals are exactly allowed. He posted the following:

“What is expected of an ESA? Are they not allowed to have accidents? If my 90 yr old grandma has an accident mid flight, is she to be removed?! It’s not to be funny, but if there wasn’t so much grey area for situations like this to occur, this would have never happen. My customer was setup for failure by the airport and deserves an apology and an apology to all the passengers on the plane for having poor regulation and lack of common sense.”

While the whole notion of a pig being ejected from a flight seems to be the perfect punchline to a joke, “when pigs don’t fly” has become a rallying cry for supporters of Boerner and Hobey.

T-shirts with Hobey’s picture on it with the words Hugs for Hobey! above the photo have been designed at the website teespring.com. The shirts were being sold for $12.95 in the limited edition campaign and it wasn’t clear where proceeds to the sale were going.

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