This photo of a German Shepherd in its own passenger seat has the Internet going crazy

Airlines have pretty strict rules for flying with pets, and often people have trouble bringing their pets on the plane altogether. But it seems like an airline recently let man's best friend sit like, well, a man in his own front-row seat in economy class.

This photo of a German Shepherd relaxing in what appears to be an aisle seat was posted on the image sharing community Imgur. It garnered two million views and thousands of comments on Reddit within 24 hours. While some people are having a good laugh, others say it's totally inappropriate.

It's definitely raised a lot of questions about which airline let the pooch have a VIP seat (there's a drink on a tray table in the corner, so we've got to assume this is mid-flight), and whether it was a service animal (the definition of which is pretty liberal). This isn't the first dog to sit near the front of the plane — or the biggest. Back in October a massive, 165-pound service dog flew on an American Airlines plane first class with his owner who had bought an extra ticket for the dog.

No word on whether this is a similar situation, but according to Department of Transportation regulations, if the service animal is too large to fit on the passenger’s lap or under the seat in front of the flier, both of them might be moved to a bulkhead row or another location in the cabin where the animal might be accommodated (or the passenger can purchase a second seat for the animal). Because this dog was indeed sitting in the bulkhead, the photo does provide some supporting evidence for the theory that it's a service animal.

Road Warrior Voices reached out to the user that posted the image. We'll update the story if we hear anything back.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to bring your four-legged friend aboard your next plane, check out our ultimate guide to flying with a pet, and how to make sure your service animal doesn't get denied boarding.