Man Sneaks His Overweight Cat On Board Airplane & Gets Punished By The Airline
One cat, one airline, and one very determined owner turned a routine flight into a viral headache. Mikhail Galin was trying to get home to Vladivostok with his overweight cat, Viktor, but the airline said the pet was too heavy to stay in the cabin.
Instead of sending Viktor to the cargo hold, Galin came up with a sneaky workaround that involved borrowing a lookalike cat and swapping them at check-in. It worked, at least long enough for him to board the plane and make it home with Viktor in his arms.
Then the airline caught on, and the fallout was immediate.
Mikhail was traveling back home to Vladivostok after a stay in Riga. However, his trip was disrupted when airline staff refused to allow his cat, Viktor, to fly with him in the cabin.
Mikhail was told that Viktor, weighing in at 22 lbs, was 5 lbs over the allowed weight limit and would need to travel in the cargo hold.
That is where the plan started to get creative.
Mikhail wasn't going to allow it. He knew from past experience that Viktor didn't cope well in transit and would be adversely affected by the unfamiliar surroundings and changing air pressure.
So he came up with an elaborate yet very simple plan. Galin posted a request for help on his social media, asking people if they could lend him a cat similar to Viktor. Somehow, he managed to find an extremely similar cat that weighed much less than Viktor.
Then he swapped the two cats at check-in and returned the borrowed cat to its rightful owner before successfully boarding the plane with Viktor in his hands.
It did not stay secret for long.
Airport surveillance footage confirmed that Galin broke airline rules with his cat-swapping charade.
The airline decided to punish Mikhail by kicking him out of the frequent flyer program and taking away 400,000 miles from his account.
People had plenty to say about the stunt.
Here's How People Reacted.
How do you feel about Mikhail sneaking Viktor into the cabin?
Let us know in the comment section, and as always, don't forget to like and share this post with your friends and family!
Before you judge Mikhail, see how a roommate got a “secret” cat account banned after he didn’t tell anyone.
Share this article:
