A Texas State University student flying home last fall to have a benign — but painful — growth removed from her neck brought some emotional support along with her: a dwarf hamster named Pebbles.

When 21-year-old Belen Aldecosea made her reservation, a Spirit Airlines employee told her Pebbles could fly in the cabin with her. But when she got to Baltimore's airport, she was told otherwise, the Miami Herald reports.

A Spirit employee, Aldecosea claims, told her that her hamster would either need to be be set free outside or flushed down an airport toilet if she planned to fly to Miami that day.

After hours trying to figure out an alternative, Aldecosea ran out of options. Pebbles' life ended in a bathroom stall.

"She was scared. I was scared. It was horrifying trying to put her in the toilet," Aldecosea told the Herald. "I was emotional. I was crying. I sat there for a good 10 minutes crying."

Spirit admits an employee incorrectly told Aldecosea that a hamster could travel along with her. But the airline vehemently denies that one of its workers told her to kill her tiny companion.

"After researching this incident, we can say confidently that at no point did any of our agents suggest this Guest … should flush or otherwise injure an animal," Spirit spokesman Derek Dombrowski told The Washington Post in an email. "It is incredibly disheartening to hear this Guest reportedly decided to end her own pet's life."

Aldecosea says she came forward after the recent case of an emotional-support peacock being denied boarding on a United Airlines flight in New Jersey, and she's considering suing Spirit over the emotional decision she claims the company forced her to make about Pebbles — who had been certified as a support animal by her doctor.

"This was a tiny, cute, harmless hamster that could fit in the palm of her hand," her attorney, Adam Goodman, told the Herald.

Indeed, the federal Transportation Security Administration allows small pets through its checkpoints. It's up to individual airlines to determine which animals are allowed on their flights.

"We would be happy to screen a hamster," TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told the Post. "A hamster does not pose a security risk, and TSA is focused on security risks."

Spirit's pet policy says dogs, cats and household birds are allowed on its aircraft, noting that rodents "will not be accepted."

Airlines including Delta and United have tightened their service-animal policies in recent months as passengers have increasingly arrived at airports with a wide variety of support critters — including a pig, a duck and a kangaroo. Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which recently settled a lawsuit with a veteran who said she'd been blocked from boarding a flight with her service dog, says it is reviewing its pet policy.

Aldecosea was in her first semester at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., after transferring there from a Florida school, the Herald reported. The appearance of the painful lump the size of a golf ball on her neck caused a brief cancer scare, and she ended up at a pet store a few miles from campus looking for some comfort.

Enter Pebbles, who found a new home in Aldecosea's dorm room.

"She was so loving," Aldecosea told the Herald. "It was like she knew I needed somebody."

When Aldecosea left Wilson weeks later to have the growth removed she wasn't about to leave Pebbles behind, so she called Spirit and was told the hamster could fly with her — a mistake Dombrowski, the airline spokesman, confirmed.

Aldecosea, who has since transferred to Texas State, said she checked in Nov. 21 at Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport without incident — but that a Spirit employee ran after her to tell her that Pebbles wouldn't be allowed on the plane.

An argument ensued, and she says at that point a Spirit employee told her to set Pebbles free or flush her, the Herald reported.

Spirit rebooked Aldecosea on a flight nine hours later, and she spent much of that time trying to come up with another solution. But she was unable to rent a car, and she didn't know anyone nearby who could take in the hamster.

In the end, she decided it was more merciful to end Pebbles' life quickly, in a toilet, than to leave her suffering in the cold, unforgiving environment outside.

Aldecosea told the Post that she emailed Spirit to complain about her pet's demise but rejected the airline's offer of a voucher for future travel.