People trying to bring large dogs on the New York subway isn't a new thing.
But a recent video shared to Twitter brings a whole new level of ridiculous to the practice.
According to MTA rules:
"No person may bring any animal on or into any conveyance or facility unless enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers."
This has led to an assortment of absurd conveyances for people's oversized pooches.
There is even an Instagram page, @BagDogs that collects photos of the "bags" that people use for their large dogs (Ikea bags seem quite popular).
There's even the odd bag cat!
Most recently, Twitter user @WillSCourtney witnessed a doozy of an attempt to ride with a huge dog in a harness-like bag made of burlap.
Unfortunately, the would-be rider was too close to the front of the train, and the conductor refused to let him board.
Courtney told Gothamist that the owner was:
"about to board the train and happened to be trying to get in the doors near the conductor's cabin, and the conductor spotted him and called him out, told him he couldn't come on the train with the dog, which is right around when I started rolling,"
This wasn't the first time the owner had tried to ride the train with his dog in the same "bag":
"I talked to the dog's owner for a little bit afterwards; he said that he'd been carrying his dog in that setup for a long time, and had never had a problem before that day."
"For what it's worth, as soon as the train pulled away, he set the dog down. It seemed very calm and content—not stressed out or anything by the ordeal or by being in the bag."
The rule that dogs must be in some sort of container seems like a good idea on the surface, but a bag or carrier doesn't prevent a badly-behaved dog from barking or otherwise behaving badly.
All it does is make well-behaved dogs have to be mildly to moderately uncomfortable just to get from point A to point B with their owners.
Uber or Lyft often aren't viable options for dog owners either, as they can be extremely expensive if you have to go any significant distance. There are quite a few drivers who will refuse to take animals, no matter how well behaved, as well.
Maybe it's time to rethink the "BagDog" policy and come up with something that works for everyone, including our four-legged friends.
