by Kathy Goodin-Mitchell

Created on: September 28, 2007

Restaurants in the US are banned from allowing dogs into their space due to state and local health restrictions. However, if you look at restaurants in Europe you find there are not as many restrictions. In addition, if you look at the whole culture in Europe you will see a total difference in how they view eating out, pets, cleanliness and where value is placed.

While Americans have had a love affair with pets in the last decade, our fellow Europeans have settled into their pet relationships in a more reasonable and realistic manner. Europeans see pets as companions and family members, hence their difference in treatment of animals. It is expensive to own a pet in Europe so many are well treated. In America it is much less expensive to purchase, license, treat and house a pet which leads us to not think of our pets as valued property. As with anything, if it is cheap, it is not valued.

All this said, I see no reason why pets, specifically dogs can not join owners in restaurants. Americans could learn from our European cousins in how to incorporate our pets into our everyday society. Dogs are not dirty, or poisonous to our food and do not pose health hazards in restaurants. Think of how many people have pets in their homes all over the world. Do any of us fall victim to disease because our pet lays at our feet when we are cooking or under the table while we eat? NO! In Europe pets come with you on walks, into stores and most any place a person can be seen. Even old King Charles put into law that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is allowed anywhere in all of England.

It is also my belief that if restaurants practiced good cleaning protocol then cleaning standards would not be an issue in the first place in the US. Health standards are set out of necessity since many restaurants do not place cleanliness as a priority. Bringing a pet into the space only then adds to the larger issue of failed cleanliness. The pet alone can not cause enough issue to make a restaurant dirty or to fail to meet legal standards. If restaurants met standards first then pets would not be an issue.

So, there, I have said it all. I blame the fact we can not take our pets into restaurants on the restaurant owners and our culture. If restaurant owners would clean up their act, then we would have a chance to change the standards in the US. If pet owners would treat animals as valued property, then pets would not be seen as dirty throw-a-ways. In other words, if we all worked together we could make the changes needed so pets could enjoy more time with humans everywhere. I am all for the change.

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