Two elderly women were forced to step off Amtrak after some riders claimed their pet Pomeranian was barking and pooping.
The sisters were traveling from California to Chicago, Illinois, but had to step down in Grand Junction, Colorado.
One passenger filmed the ordeal
Brent Bell filmed the moment the police went after the women, claiming he knew he would be "witness to an injustice" Brent also claimed he was "tired of unfairness."
After his video went viral, Bell told KTLA News that the incident happened "over a little bit of dog poop that they cleaned up immediately."
Brent tried to reason with the police, but they told him that if he kept interfering, he would be escorted off the train too. He was allowed to continue filming, though.
Brent Bell got in trouble with the conductor
Though the police did not stop the filming, the conductor asked Bell, a dog trainer, to put his phone away. Bell told him it was in his rights to film the incident, but the response was, "this train, this is mine."
The man even asked other passengers, "is anyone bothered by this little teeny dog?"
He claims no one came forward and later talked about how the dog's owner did everything right.
He said he knows that Pomeranians are difficult, and one woman held the dog in her lap to soothe the dog.
@suitexperience1 Dog poop gets elderly lady kicked off Amtrak train - #travel #tourism #foodandtravel #hospitality #resort #hotel #amtrak #train ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
Amtrak claimed the dog disturbed others
Amtrak initially claimed the dog "created a disturbance by repeatedly barking, urinating, and defecating."
Amtrak spokesperson Kimberly Woods said in a statement that they "apologize for the inconvenience and disruption to our passengers.'"
Woods added that several passengers moved due to the smell, claiming "the dog's owner was given multiple warnings about the dog being on the seat and was given advance notice about stops where dogs could be taken on walks."
One of the elderly sisters spoke up
After they were removed from the train, the woman said she picked up poop but claimed it was not her dog's and did it out of courtesy to the other riders.
She also told Nexstar’s KDVR off-camera that she was upset because the train's conductor and others were targeting them the entire ride and harassed one of them as they were going to the washroom.
Finally, the dog's owner stated that Amtrak contacted her, apologized, and said she was welcome back on Amtrak trains with the dog.
Also read: 21 of the Biggest Lies in American History
The original poster did a follow-up video
The poster shared several videos on his TikTok handle, Bellskunk. Many were moved by Bell's efforts, as one person wrote:
"Thank you for speaking up and sticking up for them."
Another comment said, "We need more people like you in this cold, heartless world. Thank you for standing up for them."
One user wrote, "Kudos to this gentleman. The sad part is the ones that find an excuse and have no remorse for others are not in agreement with you. Sad!!"
Bell started the GoFundMe page immediately, and the sisters got on time in Chicago to spend the holidays with their families.
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