Pet Product News Editorial Blog:
Friday, September 04, 2009
No Dogs Allowed
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In yesterday’s New York Times, there was an article about the discomfort some people are having about
seeing dogs in more and more business establishments. Apparently Portland, Ore., is one of our country’s dog-crazier towns and residents frequently bring their dogs to supermarkets and other businesses that sell food.
It’s clear to me that this is a natural extension of the dogs-as-family-members philosophy to which so many of us in this business subscribe and from which so many of us benefit, but it certainly does beg the question: Is there any place dogs should not be allowed?
I think there’s some interesting psychology at work here. For example, many people think photographs of their children with food on their faces are adorable. People who don’t know those children often find the images nauseating. By the same token, we all know our own pets are clean and beautiful, but others don’t know whether we just gave Fifi a bath or if she was just in the backyard rolling in something distasteful. A person walking through the supermarket with a little Maltese in her purse might be inoffensive, but what about the person who wants to walk his drooling Bassett hound? How is a business to draw the line between what is appropriate and what is not? Can they?
There are some legal complications, too, according to the Times, because businesses must allow service animals, but they are limited when it comes to what kinds of questions they can ask people who say their dogs fit that category. One of the sources in the article bought his dog’s service animal identification on a website with no official certification to provide that service.
It will be interesting to observe the process as pet’s positions in our lives evolve in the coming years. Portland may be ahead of the curve when it comes to enthusiasm for dogs, but the rest of the country certainly isn’t far behind.
What do you think about dogs in the supermarket? Where would you draw the line?
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