Just out of the WSB inbox, a request for discussion. We’re looking up the law – meantime, what do you think?
As I stood at the deli counter in the Jefferson Square Safeway today, waiting my turn to get lunch, a woman wheeled one of the store’s little shopping carts up to the counter with her pet dog standing in the top basket, nose sniffing at all the food smells. The dog wasn’t tucked under an arm or sitting in a purse, he was standing up with front paws on the rim of the cart with all his boy doggy parts hanging out. It was disgusting. I told the checker on the way out that I was disgusted Management allowed pets in the store and in the carts we all use. I asked her to please tell the store manager about my comment.
Earlier in the week it was QFC in Westwood Village where I stopped to get the last minute ingredients for dinner when I saw a woman with her little pug on a leash wandering through the store. Why do these neighbors of ours think it is ok to bring their pets into the place where we purchase food? There is no good reason to do this.
On both occasions I thought about confronting the shoppers with the dogs, but worried about their reactions. Instead I chose to tell store personnel how I felt about the dogs being allowed in the store. I would love to hear from other neighbors on this topic. If more people feel as I do, that only service animals need to be allowed in areas where food is purchased or consumed, then maybe we can get the Management of these stores to do something.
Dogs are not accessories that complete an outfit. Being a dog owner/lover myself I would never consider taking my dog into a grocery store. Are there City Ordinances about this, and what about liability issues for the stores?
Interested in my neighbors’ view,
Linda Thomson
(Other similar issues have been discussed here, and in the WSB Forums, before, but we still can’t find the exact rule/statute; summaries boil it down to, pets aren’t supposed to be in grocery stores, unless they’re service animals, and proprietors generally are advised not to push for proof.)
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