Woman Fined $130 After Her Cat Meowed ‘Too Loudly’ On Train To Paris

The Europeans aren’t messing around when it comes to noise on public transportation, and a loud pet can cost you.

Note to self: Never take Buddy on a French train, unless I want to be out a few hundred bucks by the time I reach my destination.

That’s my takeaway after coming across this story about a woman who was fined €110 (about $130 in ‘Merican dollars) by the French National Railway Company after another passenger complained that her cat was causing “acute tensions” by vocalizing.

Naturally, the passenger and the railroad have two different versions of events. Camille, who was identified only by her first name, said she’d purchased a ticket (about $8) for her cat, Monet, and had the feline in a carrier for the trip from Vannes, Brittany, to Paris, per railroad rules.

Monet “meowed a bit at the start” at the beginning of the journey, Camille admitted, but wasn’t excessively loud.

Buddy the Cat, a gray tabby cat, with a synthwave background.
“Loud? I’m merely expressing my displeasure with the level of service around here!”

Railroad operators said there were multiple complaints, not just one, and claimed a conductor asked Camille and her boyfriend, Pierre, to switch to a mostly-empty car as a compromise with other passengers.

A conductor ticketed Camille when she declined the “simple and common sense solution,” according to French broadcaster BFM.

I’ve joked in the past about sedating the Budster before flights so the other passengers won’t toss him out at 40,000 feet, but there’s truth at the heart of it: Buddy is a naturally chatty cat, he’s got strong opinions, and he doesn’t hesitate to share them with anyone.

Of course you don’t want your companion animal to create a scene or make other passengers uncomfortable. I still wince when ai think about the woman who forced fellow passengers to endure the smell, proximity and potential defecation of her “emotional support horse,” and when people began abusing the privilege of going places with emotional support animals (emotional support alligator, anyone?), it was only a matter of time before companies that operate common spaces — be they in a fuselage, a baseball stadium or a grocery store — tightened the rules to avoid conflict.

Still, unless the cat was wailing, or Camille really did refuse to switch seats, a $130 fine is excessive.

Just something to think about for those of us who have plans to travel with our cats.

Header image of a cat cafe train car in Japan, credit: Wikimedia Commons

14 thoughts on “Woman Fined $130 After Her Cat Meowed ‘Too Loudly’ On Train To Paris”

  1. ahhh, the French of course, which will be part of the issue.. we, the English were at war with them for 100 years and now the reason is clear. It will have been one of Bella’s English ancestors captured and howling in a prison horse and cart in Paris that started the war.

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    1. Dunno. I was wondering if they have designated quiet cars like we have on the Metro North, LIRR and Amtrak. Personally I like the quiet cars and I think it’s a good compromise.

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      1. Absolutely, might write to Bridget, that is a very good idea, I think Monsieur Le Présidant is rather busy at the moment…….

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      2. The strange thing is that France tops Europe and UK as the country that has most cat owners…..

        perhaps they are all silencieux, mine aren’t Lol

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      3. I should have mentioned this, but there’s been a lot of controversy about the situation and a lot of people in France supporting Camille, according to the English translations of the French media reports.

        I always hesitate to link to non-English sources, but I should probably link to them anyway. Sometimes I forget that about a third of this site’s readership is from countries where English is not the first language. The US and UK make up the bulk of readership, but we get a lot from Europe, Japan and some surprising places like Malaysia thanks to people finding PITB through Google, Chat GPT, DuckDuckGo, etc.

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