by Kylee Dutton

Created on: October 01, 2009

Consider this: Some people consider their dog as their child. People have car seats for their dogs, they have strollers for their dogs, they have toys, clothes, accessories, beds, plates, leashes, collars, tooth brushes, shampoos, ETC. That "dog' is their CHILD. For whatever reason; they unable to conceive children, don't want to have children, their children are grown ETC, their dog is their baby. To not allow them to include their child in an everyday activity is ridiculous. One argument is that 'I will be disrupted by the dogs behavior". Really-when was the last time you went to a restaurant and you weren't disrupted by the screaming kid next to you, yet we don't not allow kids in restaurants. Or when was the last time your meal was disrupted by a large group or rowdy crowd? Why are they allowed to stay? Another argument is that it's a health and safety issue. Two seperate things come to mind, first being that assisting dogs (such as those for the blind) are allowed in so why on earth is it ok for one dog but not the other? A dog is a dog, just because you help someone doesn't mean your exempt to being someones allergen. The other thought is do people really think that there will be this massive dog party with hundred of dogs running around the restuartant stealing food off of other peoples plate? Come on restaurants need to band irresponsible people and not everything/everyone that others are not being responsible for. Who are we to judge the relationship between the human and the dog. It is so easy for us to say about an assisting dog "oh he is a working dog" but what about those who have a mental illness and have a dog as a "companion dog"? You wouldn't necessarily know. How about the dog that notifies the human that they are about to have a seizure? The human and dog could be a Son watching his dying mothers dog in a place (state, city,country) that he is unfamiliar with. The human and the dog could be traveling across the State(s) during the middle of summer-should the dog really stay in a hot car while the human goes in to eat? The bottom line is that we don't know who the dog is and it's not any of our business. What is good for one is good for another. We need to start treating each other equally.

Learn more about this author, Kylee Dutton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.