Petition to allow pooches on outdoor restaurant patios

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you want to enjoy a nice cold beer on the patio you may have to leave your pet at home.

Danielle Bauer is behind a petition to try and change that.

She made trips in the past with her eight-year-old Chihuahua mix to bars that allowed pets inside the outdoor patio but a few weeks ago she and her pet were asked to leave several patios because the owners said a by-law prevented them from allowing it.

“I totally understand the restaurants position. It’s interesting that Vancouver Coastal Health is choosing to enforce this by-law all of a sudden. The petition is just asking them to relax that and to let restaurant owners decide whether they want to be dog-friendly or not.”

She says it doesn’t make sense to ban dogs from outdoor patios because they’ll be close by anyway. “Dogs are still allowed to be tied up to the outside of the patio. So you’re still in the same proximity to the dog.” She says if cleanliness is a concern, dogs inside the patio or tied up outside a few feet away doesn’t make a big difference.

Bauer says she’s not saying all patios have to be open to dogs but if owners want to why not let them decide. “The intent of the petition is certainly not to say every patio should be dog-friendly or there is some entitlement for dogs to be allowed on every patio. That is not the case at all.”

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