A family who had booked tickets to fly from Bengaluru to Delhi along with their pet dog on an Air India flight on Saturday have alleged in a video on Twitter that their pet was not allowed to board the aircraft despite having a boarding pass.

Sachin Shenoy, in the video which has gone viral, said that he along with his wife Uma, daughter Arya and pet dog Fluffy were heading for a 12-day vacation covering various places in North India.

He said that he had booked tickets for the trip three months ago and that he was in constant touch with airline officials as their pet was also travelling with them.

“We were supposed to board the flight to Delhi and then to Amritsar at 5.10 p.m. We were supposed to go on our 12-day trip from Amritsar, Dharamshala and Dalhousie. We had booked tickets about three months back and we have been in constant touch with the Air India authorities on the process for travel with our pet,” Mr. Shenoy said in the video.

He added that while their pet weighs 4.2 kg and the bag in which she was travelling weighs about 5 kg.

“As per the rules, she can fly inside the cabin. We got all the checks done, we got all the certificates done, she was issued a boarding pass by Air India and then we waited for four hours. She peacefully and calmly waited without creating any issues,” he added.

Mr. Shenoy alleged that the Captain of the flight did not allow the pet to board the flight.

“The Captain Chopra denies entry or that is what was told to us. We also understand the flight was full and maybe they had overbooked and because of which they might have wanted us to deboard. We were told to leave our pet and go. You can fly if your pet is not flying, they said. We will not allow you to take the pet, it was as good as leaving our kid and going. Is this what travel in India is all about,” Mr. Shenoy alleged.

After the video went viral, many called the airline anti-pet and questioned their pet policy.

An Air India spokesperson on Sunday said that Air India has been making repeated efforts to offer Shenoy, his family members and his pet Fluffy to fly in the next available flight since Saturday. However, since then, their efforts to offer him revalidated tickets to fly with his pet have been declined by him.

The spokesperson added that the Commander of the flight had some reservations about the pets cage and muzzle.

“Our Commander had some reservations about its cage and muzzle. Our laid-down Policy for Carriage of Pets on Domestic Flights clearly states: “pet carriage is subject to the approval of the commander of the flight.”

The situation was explained to Mr. Shenoy as well. However, since then, all our efforts to offer him revalidated tickets to fly with his pet have been declined by him,” the spokesperson added.