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PETS IN THE FOOD COURT?????
someone had a pet in the mall food court...health hazard ??? should it be reported....dogs shake dander etc....so it shouldn't be in the food court where people eat right? its not a service dog.....your take??
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Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
If it bothers you so much, take your food to go.
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Don't eat at the mall food court if it bothers you. If she wasn't kicked out when it happened then I'm assuming it's no problem.
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I can't say whether it is a health hazard but I have noticed more and more businesses not saying anything to pet owners who bring pets that are not service animals into their establishment. I have also witnessed in the past pet owners being asked to prove their dog is a service animal.
With mental health issues and dogs trained to sense something like an epileptic episode coming, there are now Therapy animals, comfort animals and emotional support animals. That makes for more animals out with owners in the public, whether stores or eateries.
Businesses that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to enter with their service animal. Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability
I looked up the ADA-Americans with Disablities Act. And will post it here, assuming you are from the US. If not, you will need to check for a similar agency in your country and instead of state, region.
Here is that document:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
I want to point out Question 3's answer is important. Since this about about any kind of animal other than service animal, mostly emotional support animals, the following from the article is important to know:
"However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws."
I think it may be due to such laws written for a ADA that most businesses no longer ask an owner if their dog is a service, therapy or emotional support animal. The amount of people with service or other type animals in public places is increasing greatly every day. There isn't a day I am out in public that I do not come across at least a couple such dogs in public places. Whereas 10 years ago or longer, although there were service animals, the other types were just starting to make their appearance in public. I remember one day on a drive remembering something we needed to purchase and it was too hot even with the windows down and we didn't want to make the trip home so we took our mini poodle and a blanket which we put where a child sits in a cart and took it into Walmart to get these much needed items. We never did it again. But I was also surprised that no one asked us about the dog. If they had I would have taken the dog out and looked for a shady spot to stand in while waiting for hubby to hurry and finish in the store. So apparently even back then, 10 years ago, pet owners were no longer being questioned. If I think like a business owner, I wouldn't worry about the one time customer passing through or the occasional times a person with a dog comes in. It is when the customer visits a place on a regular basis and is recognized on sight by workers that the customer needs to be asked. I have seen service animals not wearing any id stating they are service animals and another animal lover assuming it is not a service animal that should be touched and handled only by its owner. And when reaching outto pet the dog, the person is reprimanded by the owner who tells them that service animals are not to be touched and then get a little lesson told to them by a bitter angry owner. What makes this worse is that under law of the ADA as you will see in the document link I gave you to read, that service animals are not required to wear a harness with such ID and that makes it confusing for others. I now always ask if I may pet the dog and in almost all cases, the owner says yes, which goes to show that the greatest amount of animals helping owners are not service animals that should not be confusing with input from anyone other than their handler...like a blind person for example but that kind of owner is too obvious to spot. Its the others that catch us unawares.
If it is allowed in your state in public places including food courts, then I suggest you carry wet wipes with you and wipe down the table and chairs you choose. Dander doesn't go flying to land on tables or elsewhere unless a dog is being petted in which case also loose fur can go flying. If a dog is being a nuisance getting in your way to back up your chair or is constantly barking, then complain to the establishment manager that you would like them to ask the owner to control the dog or move on because it is disrupting your peace. And they can ask an owner to control the dog or leave. If a therapy or service dog of some sort is misbehaving, and that is affecting the quality of all the other customers experience, then they have a right to say something. We need not suffer just because a person who needs an animal is not choosing to train it well. Training by an agency is not required if an owner says they will train the animal. But theres the point, the animal must be trained and well behaved, otherwise, the owner has to follow the wishes of the public place they are at and a company as the right to ask them to leave. Maybe the dog isn't well or sick that day and acting up. They can have another chance to come another day but if its the same each time, a business can then ask them to not come back since their dog is not behaving. This I have picked up from observing owners and personell interacting.
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