A Parisian woman named Celine says an SNCF conductor gave away the train seat she had bought for her rottweiler to another passenger, sparking anger that she later voiced on social media, according to Le Parisien.
Celine was traveling from Paris to Montpellier and had bought a ticket for her dog along with a reservation for the seat next to her own, so the animal would have more room and would not block the aisle or bother other passengers.
Seat given to another passenger
Once on board, the conductor noticed the seat was empty and assigned it to another passenger who had no seat, Celine told Le Parisien. Posting on X under the account Ruby Kon, she said she was paying for an extra seat for her dog's comfort and to follow the rules, only for the seat to be taken and handed to someone else. The post was published on August 8, 2026.
Dog moved to luggage area
To give her dog more space, Celine then moved the animal into an empty luggage storage area. She said the conductor came back and scolded her, telling her the space was reserved for luggage and not for that purpose. She said she asked what she was supposed to do with her dog. The luggage area stayed empty for the rest of the journey, as no other passenger asked to use it.
SNCF responds
On Sunday, August 9, the day after Celine's post was published, SNCF gave the traveler some explanation. The company said the onboard chief had likely had to reseat a passenger who either had no reservation or had a malfunctioning seat. SNCF refunded the ticket Celine had bought for the extra seat.
Other dog and train incidents
Le Parisien noted several other recent cases involving dogs on public transport. In one, a woman with metro and train tickets, including one for her dog, was fined for crossing a corridor without a valid ticket.
In another case, a dog's leash got caught in metro doors and the animal was dragged along the platform for several meters.
An elderly man was also reported to have tied a dog he was looking after to his car and dragged it for several meters.
Separately, a man was killed in a collision with a train while walking his dog.
