Dogs on a bus

[Foodieasfuck]

We are on holiday in Cornwall and have used the bus service a lot. It’s really busy but reliable and really friendly. A lot of elderly people are usually on it too.
Yesterday, a very elderly man gets on with 2 bags of shopping. He seems to know the driver and they chat to each other briefly. The man has 2 shopping bags containing his groceries (you could see what was in them) on the luggage rack and takes a seat next to it. Someone else puts a small case next to his bags. All fine. The bus fills up. Standing room only.

A couple then get on with 2 medium sized dogs and a doggie pushchair. There is hardly any space and they have to stand. The woman puts the dogs on the luggage rack (and stands right next to them) the elderly gentleman objects as the dogs are now sat on top of his food. He asks the couple very politely to remove the dogs. She is horrified and refuses saying the floor of the bus is dirty and she can’t put the pram up for them to get in. It all kicks off. Other passengers get involved in support of the elderly man. The driver is driving but intervenes at the next stop and asks the couple to remove the dogs from the luggage rack. The woman point blank refuses to put the dogs on the floor. A couple of people get off so there are now 2 chairs available. She places the dogs on the chairs ( there are also other actual humans standing who were in before them) and the couple stay stood up (clutching the pushchair). Someone else then complains to the driver about the dogs on seats. It was farcical. We got off at the next stop (thankfully) and left them to it. The driver was trying to sort it. It was a red hot day and it was getting very heated.

The world has gone dog mad. What is wrong with a dog being on the floor?
I'm not a dog hater btw, it’s the bat shit crazy owners that are the issue!

AIBU in thinking the driver should have just asked them to get off to allow everyone else to get on with their journey?

She's a dreadful , entitled human

No the dogs should be on the floor or on the owners lap if small enough. Quite ridiculous behaviour from the owners and they give other dog owners a bad rep for going on buses.

Do you assume everything is a lie then?

I should really have added “as if it were needed” because I’ve seen enough evidence in real life that the op’s scenario isn’t even far fetched.

Can we walk me through the steps you took to get from "I wouldn't call a Mumsnet post evidence" to "I assume everything is a lie"?

This. I frequently take my dog on the bus and people don't even notice her. This is about one woman massively taking the piss. Of course she was being completely unreasonable.

Maybe you’d care to explain what you meant by “I wouldn’t call a mumsnet post evidence” if you weren’t implying that it didn’t actually happen?

Sure. After you.

Where is that? Young people under 25 free - my grandchildren have to pay bus fare to go to school after 14.

Edit: i see the question has been answered now

Keep up, I’ve answered you - you implied it was a lie. So now your turn.

Ah, you don't have the IQ to follow a conversation. Got it.

Ah you don’t have the ability to explain your point, got it.

I don’t think it’s the fact that they’re free, but more that everyone has a car, so young people get chauffeured about so much more than we did. They’ve probably been on a bus at most once or twice in their lives with a parent, as the vast majority of parents wouldn’t dream of getting a bus outside of major cities. So when would they have learned the etiquette? Not sure of the solution to that one tbh.

Absolutely! The 'animals are better than humans' brigade.

Thanks everyone. It felt good to offload and read your comments. My flabber was ghasted! 😜