Recently, a passenger traveling to Atlanta on a Delta flight was reportedly breastfeeding her cat mid-flight. While many people consider their pets as their children, this woman might have taken that to a literal meaning.  

Delta cabin crew reportedly tried to stop the woman from breastfeeding her cat.

However, in spite of the crew’s requests, the woman allegedly continued doing so. After the resistance from the woman, a message was sent through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) hoping to contact the “Red Coat” team, so that they could take some action against the woman after landing. The Red Coat team is ground staff trained to handle customer issues.  A screenshot of the message went viral on Twitter as well.  RELATED: You Can Now Carry Your Cat Like A Baby Because Life Is Amazing — Ryan Spellman (@JustJettingThru) November 23, 2021

A Delta flight attendant shared a video on TikTok.

Ainsley Elizabeth, a flight attendant from that flight mentioned in the video she posted on TikTok. “This woman had one of those, like, hairless cats swaddled up in a blanket so it looked like a baby. Her shirt was up and she was trying to get the cat to latch and she wouldn’t put the cat back in the carrier. And the cat was screaming for its life," she said. While the woman thought she was caring for her pet, even the cat seemed to have hated it.  Elizabeth continued by saying, “What does she do at home if she’s doing that in public? And then security met the flight just to tell her that she couldn’t do that again, cause it was weird and gross”. Airlines have their fair share of disruptive passengers however this situation was terrifying as other Passengers watched this bizarre scene unfold. When asked to stop, the woman defended herself by saying, “Although, I think [the passengers] are enjoying this, because like I said, I’m not terrible to look at."

Delta has clear policies regarding pets and breastfeeding.

According to Delta’s policy, “Delta fully supports a woman’s right to breastfeed on board Delta and Delta Connection aircraft and in Delta facilities. Breast pumps are allowed on board”. Breastfeeding is allowed on-flight however, that means human babies. Whether that policy includes animals is still unsure, probably because no one would have thought that people do that. Pets are also allowed in-flight but they are to remain in a carrier bag under the seat for the duration of the entire flight so as not to disturb other passengers. RELATED: How A Delta Flight Attendant Became A Young Adoptee’s Friend For Life

The airline seems to have tightened rules and regulations against animals due to the 84% in incidents relating to animals in the past few years.  Many people travel with their pets such as emotional support animals or service animals. But due to the incidents relating to animals, many airlines have banned emotional support animals claiming only service animals would be allowed in-flight. Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties.  One popular case includes a 37-year-old woman traveling in flight who was suffering from PTSD. She was accompanied by her emotional support duck, Daniel in 2016.  Delta stated that they had seen several animals traveling on the flight such as “comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders, and more”.     RELATED: Awful New Details About The Death Of Kokito — The French Bulldog Puppy Who Died When A United Airlines Flight Attendant Forced Him Into An Overhead Bin Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer and an Editorial Intern at YourTango who writes on entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.