Wake County residents won’t be able to take their dogs to outdoor-dining areas after state food safety officials in North Carolina clarify a state regulation banning pets from restaurants. Enforcement of the regulation is expected to begin in 2011.
The News & Observer reported Larry Michael, the head of the food protection branch of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the “state has always maintained that pets are not allowed in indoor or outdoor dining areas.”
If the restaurants are caught with having animals, not including police dogs and service animals for the disabled, the business could lose two points off its sanitation score.
Ashley Mukoyama, one of the managers at 101 Lounge and Café located in Downtown Raleigh, said the café is pet friendly and fully supports consumers with pets.
“We have doggie treats when customers’ pets come in,” Mukoyama said. “People like to sit on the patio to drink beer and sit with their dogs. It’s like we have a little community for the costumers and their dogs.”
Mukoyama said the café isn’t worried about the health inspectors and won’t go by their policy.
“Until the state health inspectors come in and threaten us to get rid of our pet friendly policy, we are still going to serve consumers and their pets,” she said.
She also believes that the dogs outside do not have an effect on the café’s sanitation.
“We don’t let them sit on the tables or chairs,” Mukoyama said. “There’s no difference between a dog sitting beside a table versus a dog walking down the sidewalk.”
Mukoyama said people are more cautious since the state started to have restrictions on pets in dining areas, but people are still calling and asking if they are pet friendly. “Our answer is always yes – what’s next? You can’t walk your dog down a sidewalk?”
Cheryl Cardinal, the owner of The Barkery , a dog and cat boutique in downtown Raleigh, said since the state started to have restrictions on pets, she has seen less activity in the downtown area for the last couple of weeks.
“It makes no sense,” Cardinal said. “People are now openly saying that dogs are not supposed to be out in the patios. I will never go back to a restaurant where they do not let my dog sit outside with me.”
Cardinal said most people will not take their dog out in public if the dog isn’t socialized.
”People are not going to let their pets urinate underneath the restaurant’s table,” Cardinal said. “Your dog is kept as well as you are.”
Victoria Niemeyer, a senior in sociology, said she has taken her four-year-old terrier to plenty of restaurants in downtown Raleigh and feels like her dog is cleaner than most people.
“In other countries and states, the government isn’t so strict about having pets in restaurants,” Niemeyer said. “When I was in Europe, people had dogs everywhere. They were on the tables, chairs and stools.”
She also said she can’t believe the state inspectors are trying to categorize dogs with cigarette smoking.
”In general, I think it’s kind of sad how the law has a say in whether it is OK for pets to be outside the patio with their owner. This is ridiculous,” she said.
Mario Longo, manager of Vic’s Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria, said people come by the pizzeria with dogs all the time.
“We never had an issue with dogs being unsanitary and disturbing our customers,” Longo said. “There’s never been an incident of a dog biting a person.”
Longo also agrees that the restaurant will still serve customers with pets until the State health inspectors say something about it. “About 20 percent of our customers bring their dogs here,” Longo said. “We’re just not going to stop serving food to those people. Hopefully there is a way to overturn this.”
Cardinal said when you work locally, but you’re away from your pet for 10 hours, all you want to do at the end of the day is go out to eat with your pet.
”We domesticated our animals to be our companions. They totally rely on us for feeding and attention,” Cardinal said. “They’re such a big part of people’s lives.”
