“It’s just a nightmare”
76-year-old stranded on Puerto Rico-because of parrot
Updated on April 11th, 2025 – 2:22 pmReading time: 2 min.
A gray parrot called Plucky made the return trip of an old lady from a Caribbean island back to the USA. A senator switched on.
Accompanying animals or therapy animals that are supposed to support people with physical or psychological impairments are usually dogs – at least in Germany. In the United States, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs or mice can also be considered “emotional support animal” (in German: animal for emotional support). However, the question is whether this status is recognized everywhere.
A 76 -year -old woman from New York now had to learn this. As CNN and CBS report, Maria Fraterrigo was stranded on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico because of her accompanying Papageis Plucky. The airline Frontier Airlines had refused to bring Plucky on board on the return flight to the USA. It was only after a great media echo and the personal commitment of the New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
For Maria Fraterrigo, the bird has been an important consolation donor since her husband’s death in 2019. She flew to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico for the first time since the mourning case, the tickets had booked her son Robert. The parrot was no problem on the outward flight of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Later, Frontier Airlines reported to Fraterrigo with the words: “If you want to start the flight, you have to get rid of the bird.” They made a mistake. According to the applicable transport guidelines, she should not have taken the bird with her. Small home birds are allowed on domestic flights, but larger birds such as parrots or cacadus are not.
“I feel abandoned. My medication are at home. I miss a doctor’s appointment. It’s just a nightmare,” said the senior citizen to the CNN partner WCBS. “I just want to go home with my bird.”
After numerous television stations and newspapers asked the airline and asked for information, New York’s Senator Schumer apparently also received wind. He campaigned for Fraterrigo, who lives in the Bronx district, at the airline. Her son Robert said CBS: “Senator Schumer helped. It was a team performance. But I have to say that it is ridiculous that a politician had to turn on so that it works with the return flight.”
