The management of the Light Rail Transit-Line 2 hinted at allowing animal companions to ride with humans in a teaser post on Wednesday.
In a social media post, the transit line shared a graphic featuring an image of a cat and a dog with the text: “SOON IN LRT-2.”
It bore the following caption: “May mga bago tayong pasahero sa LRT-2! Abangan…”
The post was accompanied by emojis of a tram and a man and woman gesturing OK.
The LRT-2’s post on Facebook has earned a whopping number of 16,000 likes and reactions, 6,000 shares and 1,100 comments so far.
Some Pinoys, particularly fur parents, welcomed the possible convenience of having their pets ride the transit line.
“Thankssss for this!! I’ve been waiting [for] this for a year!!! [‘Di na mahihirapan] babies [namin] as long as my diapers sila, yehhey,” a Facebook user wrote in the comments.
“Thank you so much for letting these beautiful creatures, cats and dogs, enjoy the ride in LRT2. MRT has long started letting pets ride,” another online user commented.
“Yey, pweds na laboy namibols,” a Pinoy on Twitter wrote.
Meanwhile, others had reservations about the upcoming policy.
Some cited concerns about fur allergy and how the guidelines will be implemented on the ground. There were also those who raised questions about the influx of passengers during rush hours.
“As long as safe sila at sa ibang passengers. Or may area sila katulad nung area ng pregnant/PWD/seniors. Kasi may mga passengers tayong allergic sa fur,” a Facebook user commented.
“Sana maglabas ng maayos na guidelines about this. Tapos ma roll out and well informed ang mga staff and security guards. Sa MRT kasi, sabi pwede ang pets given naka-carrier, sa Boni Station walang idea ang mga guards, tumawag pa ng kasamahan. Same sila na no clue,” another Pinoy wrote.
“Oh no. Is the system really ready for this? What about during rush hour? How to control surge of people? Are there doctors on the LRT to assist? What if nakakagat [‘yung] mga animals ng tao? Is there an insurance/assistance for it? While I appreciate the LRT being pet friendly, dapat may extreme safety measures on both animal and human side ang implemented, [hindi ‘yung] bara-bara lang na implementation,” commented a different Filipino.
“Sana po may area lang sila or ‘wag sa rush hour. Kasi grabe po siksikan ng rush hour, tao palang. Baka po ma-stress sila or baka po magkulang ‘yung space para sa mga tao na sasakay,” another commuter said.
The LRT-2 is the most spacious of the transit lines in the country, compared to the LRT-Line 1 along Manila and the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 along EDSA.
The more crowded MRT-3 allows passengers to take their pets with them, provided the animals are enclosed in 2×2 carriers and have diapers.
A bus company also said that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board allows pets in public utility vehicles under certain conditions.
Ride-hailing service Grab, on the other hand, said it generally allows four-legged companions to travel with their owners but the decision is ultimately up to the driver since some of them could be allergic to fur.
While pets are usually housebound, there are owners who need to travel with them for veterinary visits, errands or simply out of leisure.