No Dogs Allowed!

The St. Petersburg Times (Florida, not Russia) has a rather snarky editorial by one Barbara Fredricksen that is gloating about dogs being banned at an outdoor restaurant that had been dog-friendly.

The restaurant, Moon Under Water, had been a pioneer in taking advantage of a new law passed in the Florida state legislature that allowed local communities to decide for themselves whether to allow restaurants to choose to allow dogs in outside eating areas. They've ceased to allow dogs, however, because of an unappetizing bout of indigestion by one of their four-legged guests.

Barb had "envisioned bitten ankles, fighting canines, mangled fingers and tripped waiters spilling scalding coffee over startled patrons," and seems delighted that the restaurant has reversed its policy.

It seems to me that it's a smart law. It gives the local communities the ability to actually decide for themselves, and then each restaurant can choose to take advantage of it if it's allowed locally. I think it adds to the local flavor and gives another way for the restaurant to differentiate itself to pet owners.

I've spent a decent amount of time in St. Petersburg (and Sarasota and Siesta Key), and there are already tons of dogs at a lot of seaside, outdoor restaurants. It's a social outlet for pet owners (and their dogs) to get together and meet new friends.

There will always be incidents like this with pets, just like there are always incidents like this with people. One incident trumpeted by someone who already was hoping for failure isn't proof of the idea's failure. My guess is here are several less publicized restaurants who allow dogs and are quite happy to stay out of Ms. Fredrickson's cynical eye.

What do you think?