Woman’s 55-pound dog rides in backpack to follow subway rules

In New York City, animals are allowed on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway system “only when they are carried in kennels or similar containers that can be accommodated by you on your lap without annoyance to other passengers.” While the rule stipulates that animals cannot “protrude from the container,” plenty of residents are bending it as much as they can to transport their beloved pets from place to place.

Take Jackie Hornung, who has gone viral on TikTok for bringing her beautiful Samoyed, Lumi, with her throughout the city in a hiking backpack. One of her videos, on the account dedicated to her gorgeous cloud-like canine, @littlebearlumi, has more than 9.7 million views!

Lumi is 1 and a half years old, Hornung told Newsweek, and named for the Finnish word for “snow.” The 2-foot-tall pup is calm and loves being carried, according to his owner.  When on the subway, “he gets a lot of pets, which he very much enjoys,” she said.

According to a comment she posted to the video, her dog weighs 55 pounds. As you can imagine, commenters were pretty much enchanted by the idea of encountering this good boy while taking the subway around the city. And Hornung has posted plenty of videos showing some of the lucky folks who have been able to see Lumi out and about, including this one:

“We love making people smile,” her caption reads.

It turns out, Hornung is not the only one trying to circumvent the rules by putting her dog in a big bag. For example, there’s this dog owner, who put his canine companion in an Ikea bag with holes cut into it for the legs. This picture was posted by @OfficialAlgie:

And here, a user named @christianponse has collected a few pictures of New Yorkers following the rule. Sort of.

Given how important dogs are to our lives, it’s no surprise that people are looking for ways to bring them with wherever they go. And as for Lumi, you can follow his adventures through New York, including visiting different parts of the city or getting a Puppuccino at Starbucks, at @littlebearlumi on Instagram and TikTok.