A Toronto woman is feeling confused and upset after Mississauga transit officers attempted to remove her from a bus for having her pet dog on board.
Tajah Henry tells Now Toronto that the incident happened earlier this week as she, her sister and her dog Versace, who’s a rottweiler mix, were on route home from a beach in Toronto. After taking a GO Train and several buses, it was close to midnight when they finally boarded the number 11 MiWay bus at Westwood Square Transit Terminal.
“At the time that we had gotten on the bus, the driver wasn’t there… as the driver came back, though he had said something along the lines of, ‘A dog like that, can’t be on this bus,’” she said.
Henry says the bus driver then walked off the bus, she didn’t think much of the comment, until a passenger notified her that the driver was in the process of calling security.
“I wasn’t aware that they were calling security, I just thought we were waiting,” she said.
Shortly after, Henry says security arrived.
“He starts telling me that service dogs have to have documentation, but I had never claimed that Versace was a service dog,” she said.
Henry began recording the interaction, which she later posted on TikTok. In the video, a transit officer tells her that the bus driver will not operate the bus, despite signage on the vehicle stating that leashed pets are in fact allowed.
@nowtoronto A Toronto woman is feeling confused and upset after Mississauga transit officers attempted to remove her from a bus for having her pet dog on board. #MiWay #Mississauga ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
“We’re only enforcing the law… the MiWay policy, it must be a service dog,” the officer tells her.
To which she repeatedly reads the signage in the video, and states that her pet is leashed.
After a few moments of repeatedly telling the officer what the signage states, Henry and her sister exit the bus with Versace.
“If it’s not going to move, why sit? And we proceeded to walk home,” she said.
Henry says she is now considering taking legal action and reaching out to lawyers.
“It was really late, It was embarrassing. Why can’t I take my dog on the bus if the sign in front of us literally says I can? I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” she said.
According to the City of Missisauga’s website, pets are allowed on MiWay but they must be kept on a leash or in a cage, however excotic animals are not allowed.
The City of Mississauga also confirmed in a statement to Now Toronto that MiWay does allow pets on board as long as they are “properly leashed and not disruptive to other passengers.”
The statement says that MiWay is aware of the incident involving Henry and that it’s currently under review.
Henry posted her interaction on TikTok, which has nearly 400,000 views as of publication, sparking outrage online.
“This is ridiculous, it literally says pets are allowed,” one TikTok user said.
“Their own website says pets are allowed on leash. This is crazy,” another user said.
Some users have said they’ve reached out to the City of Mississauga on Henry’s behalf to complain.
Now Toronto reached out to the city for comment but is still awaiting a response.
Henry says she is currently in communication with the city, and is also working on finding the appropriate channels to file a formal complaint against MiWay.
