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"Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
 
"Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by JayMac at 20:17, 29th August 2025
 
From the Independent:

The train inspector said the woman was given a fine after refusing to move her cat Monet to a quieter carriage

A train inspector in France has fined a passenger nearly £100 after her cat meowed too loudly during a journey.

The passenger, named only as Camille, was travelling on a train between Vannes in Brittany and Paris with her partner Pierre last week when she was fined £95, local media reported.

She had bought a ticket for both herself and for her cat Monet - a requirement for travelling with pets on the SNCF, the French rail network.

“He meowed a little at the beginning of the journey, and following a passenger's complaint, a ticket inspector issued us a fine,” she told French outlet BFM.

A train inspector in France has fined a passenger nearly £100 after her cat meowed too loudly during a journey.

The passenger, named only as Camille, was travelling on a train between Vannes in Brittany and Paris with her partner Pierre last week when she was fined £95, local media reported.

She had bought a ticket for both herself and for her cat Monet - a requirement for travelling with pets on the SNCF, the French rail network.

“He meowed a little at the beginning of the journey, and following a passenger's complaint, a ticket inspector issued us a fine,” she told French outlet BFM.

The passenger added that Monet was in good condition and was safely transported in his usual travel carrier.

It comes after a series of fines were issued to ‘noisy’ passengers on French transport.

A man was fined £172 for having a telephone conversation on loudspeaker in Nantes station in February.

Police also stopped pilgrims singing Jubilate Deo at Montparnasse station in Paris four months later and fined one of the group for “causing a public disturbance”.

Camille told BFM that the fine was an injustice.

“I wasn't given the opportunity to resolve it at the time,” she said.

The inspector gave three reasons for the fine: the cat did not stop meowing, several passengers complained, and when the officer subsequently asked Camille to move she “refused”.

The rail operator told BFM in a statement that the fine was not issued because the cat was meowing but because of complaints and tensions with other passengers caused by the noises made by the pet.

“Our flight attendants offered to move her to the next carriage where there were many empty seats, a polite solution that she unfortunately refused. This simple solution would have helped ease tensions between her and the other customers,” SNCF said.

Camille has reportedly contested the fine.

“It's still a shame that the SNCF can fine people who are simply traveling with their pets, who are in compliance and who have taken all the necessary precautions,” she said.

Zut alors! Mon Dieu! Sacré bleu! etc.

(I suspect one or two points were lost in translation. SNCF don't employ flight attendents as far as I'm aware.)

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:38, 29th August 2025
 
I've mentioned it here on the Coffee Shop forum before, but we saw an example of the French approach to 'public nuisance' on their railways, during our family visit to Disneyland Paris, many years ago.

An itinerant accordion player was being somewhat irritating, sitting in the gangway of our carriage, making a noise - until three or four very tall, burly, crop-headed uniformed members of authority strode purposefully through the train.  The accordion player scampered very quickly off the train at the next stop. 

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by JayMac at 20:59, 29th August 2025
 
An accordion player. How stereotypically gallic.

Was he wearing a black beret, red neckerchief and marinière striped shirt? With a Gauloises dangling from the corner of his mouth?

Oh and did any of the attending officers of the leu look like this gendarme?

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by broadgage at 06:14, 30th August 2025
 
Perhaps the owners of children should be fined a similar amount if the children make too much noise.

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by grahame at 08:03, 30th August 2025
 
Perhaps the owners of children should be fined a similar amount if the children make too much noise.

And meanwhile in England - from the BBC

It's a sunny Saturday in August and the bus Rachel is driving in Sussex is nearly empty. There are just three passengers on the lower deck.

But despite how empty it is, the bus isn't quiet - because someone is watching rugby without headphones in.

When Rachel asks the passenger to turn his phone down because it's distracting her, he calls her "the most miserable bus driver I have come across in my entire life" and gets off the bus in a huff.

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by Timmer at 09:36, 30th August 2025
 
Why is it some people think we all want to hear their phone conversations, the music they are playing or tv programs/films?

It’s definitely something that’s got much worse over the past couple of years.

And yes, woe betide anyone who challenges them to put headphones/ear buds in.

Re: "Passenger fined €85 after cat ‘miaows too loudly’ on train" - The Independent
Posted by TaplowGreen at 11:44, 30th August 2025
 
Why is it some people think we all want to hear their phone conversations, the music they are playing or tv programs/films?

It’s definitely something that’s got much worse over the past couple of years.

And yes, woe betide anyone who challenges them to put headphones/ear buds in.

Particularly bad on the Elizabeth Line. I've become quite an afficionado of "Gangsta rap" as a result! 

 
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