To the Editor:
My wife and I dined at a [restaurant] recently. The food was good and the waitress pleasant as well as efficient. However, there was a St. Bernard two tables away. It was a huge dog. Two waitresses stopped to pet the big, long haired animal. I hoped they washed their hands, although I don’t believe they did. After being fed from the table, it licked the plate. Some may think this is okay but I don’t. Another customer was looking at his phone while being shown to his table and just missed stepping on its tail. How would the animal react if he had? Who knows, but it did have the potential for disaster. This is unsanitary and just plain stupid.
Several years have passed since service animals have been allowed in retail establishments and restaurants. This was a bad idea from the beginning. I understand the necessity of a Seeing Eye dog. Even though I can be sympathetic with vets who suffer from PTSD, I don’t believe they should be allowed to turn our local eating establishments into petting zoos. Most of those who bring their dogs are obviously not vets and their animals are not truly support animals. Many people no longer even bother to put the phony service vests on them anymore. After months of social distancing, masks and hand sanitizer, it’s hard to believe that animals in restaurants are acceptable. Dogs can carry viral diseases and parasites. Dog feces showed up in a restaurant-pub in the UK not long ago. Some people are allergic to dog or cat hair and there are those who have cynophobia, which is an extreme fear of dogs among children as well as adults. Recently a dog fight broke out in a café in Miami. That’s not my idea of fine dining.
If someone has serious emotional or psychiatric issues they should receive treatment and bring a human friend to dinner. We have seen several dogs in restaurants over the last few years and about a month ago there was a Doberman Pinscher. Dining out should be a special experience not a trip to a kennel or a barnyard. This is unsanitary and serves no good purpose. The law should be changed to put a halt to this nonsense. I believe that allowing animals in restaurants is a practice that will go from bad to worse.
Don Scott
Greenfield
