A TikTok user recently shared a video of himself and his hefty 63-kilogram Great Dane taking up three whole airplane seats during a flight from Los Angeles to New York City.
But that’s not the tea.
In an interview with the "New York Post," he mentioned that people were amazed and surprised by the sight, yet they seemed excited to see the dog. The airport apparently turned into a land of smiles.
However, it turns out that even though the Great Dane, named Darwin, is actually a service dog for TikToker Gabriel Bogner, he has been facing bullying and negativity.
Despite the valid reason for Darwin taking up the space, some people still chose to be unkind.
@gibbon1215 Who says Great Danes aren’t airplane dogs. Shoutout to @American Airlines for making our move to Brooklyn a piece of cake though! (Yes I bought 3 seats for us on the plane) #greatdane #dog #gay #fyp #tiktok #newyork #brooklyn #doggo ♬ Funny Background - Stefani
Some viewers even threatened to report him to the government, and his personal Instagram is getting flooded with nasty comments. All because he called his dog, Darwin, a service animal.
To clear things up, Bogner made another video where he talked about his relationship with Darwin and tried to address some of the comments he's been getting.
The caption read: “seems my vid made most people smile but made some quite angry, so here’s even more explanation to the haters!”
@gibbon1215 Replying to @Gibbon seems my vid made most people smile but made some quite angry, so here’s even more explanation to the haters! 💋🎂 #greatdane #dog #tiktok #fyp #crohnsdisease #ostomate #gay ♬ original sound - Gibbon
Furthermore, he explained the registration of Darwin, which “is registered as an emotional support dog. This registration came about because Bogner grew up in a hospital with many traumas attached to it.
He added that although a physician told him she qualified as a service animal it appeared to have "offended many people".
“All of this BS from some of these faceless profiles online is just another form of ableism and, quite frankly, bullying,” Bogner said in the video. ”I was just trying to make a light-hearted, cute video.“
However, many viewers showed their support and could even relate to story Bogner’s story: “She is adorable. My Dane helped me and my disability,” wrote one.
“I also have chronic illnesses and an autoimmune disease and was able to register my two frenchies as ESAs. I plan on fully certify them so they (1/2).”
It’s clear that haters are gonna hate regardless, so just keep doing you, along with your service dog, pet, fur baby, whatever you’d like to call it.