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Dog-friendly Portlanders in peril
Came across this article in the NY Times this morning. This is, after all, one of the main reasons I moved to Portland, precisely because (I thought) it was so pet-friendly. However, I understand the issues here are broader. Discuss!
September 3, 2009
Oregon Wants ‘Dog Friendly’ to Be Less So
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
PORTLAND, Ore. — Star stopped to scratch herself beside the carrot ginger soup.
“Look at her; she’s the calmest dog you’ve ever met, isn’t she?” Lawrence Sax said of Star, his 8-year-old Australian shepherd mix, as he held her leash at a Whole Foods Market here. “Everybody I know loves her.”
Mr. Sax had apparently overlooked the glare of Stefan Koprinkov.
“I love animals,” Mr. Koprinkov, who had to step around the dog in his search for cheese pizza, said later. “But it’s wrong for animals to be in the store.”
Mr. Koprinkov is not the only person who thinks so. In the last year, the food safety division of the Oregon Agriculture Department has received more than 600 complaints about animals in food stores, and a disproportionate number of them have come from the Pearl District of Portland, an affluent, dog-passionate procession of newer condominiums and shiny retail shops at the edge of downtown. Whole Foods has had complaints; the Safeway a few blocks away has had even more.
“Usually they’ll hold off and not make a complaint until they’ve seen a dog urinate in the grocery store or jump up and try to swipe a pack of meat,” said Vance Bybee, the head of the food safety division. “Or they’ve seen dogs pooping in the aisle, that sort of thing.”
“That sort of puts them over the edge,” Mr. Bybee said.
In response to the complaints, Oregon is about to begin an unusual campaign, distributing posters and pamphlets to about 4,500 retail stores that sell food. The message is this: Animals, except those trained to help the disabled, are not allowed.
The campaign, however, is not likely to make the problem go away, state officials and dog owners say, particularly in a neighborhood like the Pearl District, where many people who are not physically disabled consider the company of their pets therapeutic and insist on taking them just about everywhere. Some banks put water bowls by their front doors, and dog day-care facilities take time to serve pets the specially packed lunches their owners make for them.
“Portland is dog crazy,” said Andrea Schneider, who lives in the Pearl District and runs pdxdog.com, a social network for dog lovers. “If you don’t understand that context, you’re not going to get this.”
Ms. Schneider confessed that she had in the past taken her golden retriever, Ellie, who is not a service animal, into places where animals were prohibited, fearing leaving the dog on the street. She said she took Ellie to Safeway, too, thinking dogs were allowed. When an employee politely stopped her, she said that “it was a surprise” but that she understood.
The federal Food Code, based on language from the Americans with Disabilities Act, describes service animals as aiding people with physical disabilities and performing certain tasks the disabled person cannot, like those provided by Seeing Eye dogs. The code says, too, that a service animal is not considered a pet.
Yet the disability law also limits the extent to which a private business can question people about their disabilities and the service an animal provides, and there is no requirement under state or federal law that an animal be licensed or somehow labeled as a service animal.
A new poster created by the state says, “Animals that provide support or companionship are not regarded as service animals.” Still, the limits on questions a business can ask could leave the door open to interpretation and abuse.
“It’s this weird gray area,” said Caitlin Lomen, working in the deli at Whole Foods. “Like when you see little Foo Foo in someone’s purse, you know that’s not a service animal.”
A co-worker, Carl Anderson, joined the conversation, saying: “Some people are kind of grossed out by it, but it’s a comfort thing for a lot of people, to have their dog with them. Who am I to judge someone else’s needs?”
“Unless they’re jumping up and eating out of the salad bar,” Mr. Anderson added, “we try to roll with it the best we can.”
The Pearl District is a recently erected confection in a city often regarded as ahead of the curve in so-called New Urbanist thinking. Streetcars whisper by. Yoga is popular in Tanner Springs Park, described by a sign at its entrance as “a habitat garden created on reclaimed industrial land.” Dogs are not allowed in that park, but some owners let them run free at a dog park nearby, where the area’s developer, Hoyt, provides bags for poop and empties the trash cans that fill up quickly.
“Livability perfected” is printed on the back of the business card of Tiffany Sweitzer, the president of Hoyt, which began developing the area in the 1990s. Ms. Sweitzer said that dogs were initially not a priority for the project, which is built on old railyards, but that they had become central to its identity. Her family dog, Scout, is featured prominently in advertising.
Ms. Sweitzer said she once tried to promote a condominium building as dog-free. “You couldn’t believe how many people called me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ ” she said.
Mr. Sax, with Star at Whole Foods, is not a condominium owner. He said he was living in a hostel after having moved up from Los Angeles a few weeks ago. He produced a card identifying Star as a service animal. The card is sold at activedogs.com for less than $30; the Web site notes that it “is not a certifying agency, nor do we hold any responsibility for information that you have us put on your ID badge.”
Mr. Sax, 57, said Star helped him because he did not “see that well,” though he is able to shop for himself. As far as he is concerned, Mr. Sax said, “I’m legal.”
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
September 3, 2009
Oregon Wants ‘Dog Friendly’ to Be Less So
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
PORTLAND, Ore. — Star stopped to scratch herself beside the carrot ginger soup.
“Look at her; she’s the calmest dog you’ve ever met, isn’t she?” Lawrence Sax said of Star, his 8-year-old Australian shepherd mix, as he held her leash at a Whole Foods Market here. “Everybody I know loves her.”
Mr. Sax had apparently overlooked the glare of Stefan Koprinkov.
“I love animals,” Mr. Koprinkov, who had to step around the dog in his search for cheese pizza, said later. “But it’s wrong for animals to be in the store.”
Mr. Koprinkov is not the only person who thinks so. In the last year, the food safety division of the Oregon Agriculture Department has received more than 600 complaints about animals in food stores, and a disproportionate number of them have come from the Pearl District of Portland, an affluent, dog-passionate procession of newer condominiums and shiny retail shops at the edge of downtown. Whole Foods has had complaints; the Safeway a few blocks away has had even more.
“Usually they’ll hold off and not make a complaint until they’ve seen a dog urinate in the grocery store or jump up and try to swipe a pack of meat,” said Vance Bybee, the head of the food safety division. “Or they’ve seen dogs pooping in the aisle, that sort of thing.”
“That sort of puts them over the edge,” Mr. Bybee said.
In response to the complaints, Oregon is about to begin an unusual campaign, distributing posters and pamphlets to about 4,500 retail stores that sell food. The message is this: Animals, except those trained to help the disabled, are not allowed.
The campaign, however, is not likely to make the problem go away, state officials and dog owners say, particularly in a neighborhood like the Pearl District, where many people who are not physically disabled consider the company of their pets therapeutic and insist on taking them just about everywhere. Some banks put water bowls by their front doors, and dog day-care facilities take time to serve pets the specially packed lunches their owners make for them.
“Portland is dog crazy,” said Andrea Schneider, who lives in the Pearl District and runs pdxdog.com, a social network for dog lovers. “If you don’t understand that context, you’re not going to get this.”
Ms. Schneider confessed that she had in the past taken her golden retriever, Ellie, who is not a service animal, into places where animals were prohibited, fearing leaving the dog on the street. She said she took Ellie to Safeway, too, thinking dogs were allowed. When an employee politely stopped her, she said that “it was a surprise” but that she understood.
The federal Food Code, based on language from the Americans with Disabilities Act, describes service animals as aiding people with physical disabilities and performing certain tasks the disabled person cannot, like those provided by Seeing Eye dogs. The code says, too, that a service animal is not considered a pet.
Yet the disability law also limits the extent to which a private business can question people about their disabilities and the service an animal provides, and there is no requirement under state or federal law that an animal be licensed or somehow labeled as a service animal.
A new poster created by the state says, “Animals that provide support or companionship are not regarded as service animals.” Still, the limits on questions a business can ask could leave the door open to interpretation and abuse.
“It’s this weird gray area,” said Caitlin Lomen, working in the deli at Whole Foods. “Like when you see little Foo Foo in someone’s purse, you know that’s not a service animal.”
A co-worker, Carl Anderson, joined the conversation, saying: “Some people are kind of grossed out by it, but it’s a comfort thing for a lot of people, to have their dog with them. Who am I to judge someone else’s needs?”
“Unless they’re jumping up and eating out of the salad bar,” Mr. Anderson added, “we try to roll with it the best we can.”
The Pearl District is a recently erected confection in a city often regarded as ahead of the curve in so-called New Urbanist thinking. Streetcars whisper by. Yoga is popular in Tanner Springs Park, described by a sign at its entrance as “a habitat garden created on reclaimed industrial land.” Dogs are not allowed in that park, but some owners let them run free at a dog park nearby, where the area’s developer, Hoyt, provides bags for poop and empties the trash cans that fill up quickly.
“Livability perfected” is printed on the back of the business card of Tiffany Sweitzer, the president of Hoyt, which began developing the area in the 1990s. Ms. Sweitzer said that dogs were initially not a priority for the project, which is built on old railyards, but that they had become central to its identity. Her family dog, Scout, is featured prominently in advertising.
Ms. Sweitzer said she once tried to promote a condominium building as dog-free. “You couldn’t believe how many people called me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ ” she said.
Mr. Sax, with Star at Whole Foods, is not a condominium owner. He said he was living in a hostel after having moved up from Los Angeles a few weeks ago. He produced a card identifying Star as a service animal. The card is sold at activedogs.com for less than $30; the Web site notes that it “is not a certifying agency, nor do we hold any responsibility for information that you have us put on your ID badge.”
Mr. Sax, 57, said Star helped him because he did not “see that well,” though he is able to shop for himself. As far as he is concerned, Mr. Sax said, “I’m legal.”
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Tags: dogs, pet-friendly, pets
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lorri E. on -
I would not expect Portland's dog friendly culture to change anytime soon...there are droves of insane pet lovers here (me being one of them). That said, I have never been as bold as to take my dogs into the grocery store...and while they are probably "therapeutic" as far as my stress levels are concerned...I never thought of them as therapy dogs. I think we do need to have some guidelines or laws that work better for all concerned. After all, not EVERYONE loves pets as much as I do, and besides, some people are truly allergic, and certainly some consider them insanitary (and some probably are..let's be honest). That said, I truly love the local restaurants who allow dogs on the patio (Lucky Lab, Lompoc, and Amnesia, anyone?) and admire and appreciate businesses who try to make pets as welcome as their patrons. I will continue to frequent those businesses. Having dogs is my lifestyle choice...but it is my CHOICE...I don't think it is fair to force my choice upon everyone around me though. As much as I love dogs, and the fact that Portland is so dog friendly. Andrea Schneider of www.pdxdog.com is absolutely correct that this is a dog crazy town compared to most. Definitely visit her website and post your questions there too...it is a great place to get tapped into the pet loving community and understand what is going on in town.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on -
Hi Lorri et al,
Thanks for such a nice shout-out about pdxdog.com. I was very happy that we were in the article, felt like a lot of exposure for our little dog-crazy town.
What the reporter failed to say was I only brought Ellie into the Safeway once after seeing many other dogs inside. I had also asked if it was alright. It was the second time that they approached me and I had no problem at all, although it wasn't consistent with prior policy.
It is true that I'm always afraid to leave Ellie outside anywhere. I have fears she will be taken by somebody. That's happened to enough people, so I'm paranoid about it. You could ask why I even bring her, it's because we are usually going or coming from a walk, errands, shopping or something where it would be so hard to take her home and come back. We've also had heat, so the car hasn't been an option if I'm driving.
I love our dog-crazy loving community! We've been ranked #2 by Men's Health Magazine, can you believe it? It's not going to change, that I can say with some certainty. We are lucky our dogs can go to as many places as they can, which I love. I actually never thought they were allowed in markets. Never occurred to me before I saw dogs in Safeway. I never thought they were allowed.
The dog community here and around our country is growing steadily and moves more than $46B in dog products and services a year, and it's going up each year, even in this economy.
I hadn't realized the issue of dogs in markets was such a big one until I met with the NYT. Now it will be interesting to see where it goes.
Andrea
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Permalink Reply by Holland on
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I like and agree with this blogger's coverage of the story:
http://www.dolittler.com/2009/09/04/Whats.pet.friendly.On.animal.co...
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Permalink Reply by Lorri E. on
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Good article! I think it would be cool if there were dog friendly neighborhoods, as one poster suggested. I would live there, of course (since I have three dogs).
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Cueva on -
Thanks for the article Lulu. I too am a dog owner and lover who just moved here from, yes, California. Although it's not as pet friendly there, they allow dogs of all sizes in some of their malls which I have mixed feelings about. I worked in a day spa and clients even tried to bring their dogs in while they get facials and waxed. When a place such as a restaurant or spa has strict sanitation concerns (and laws), pet owners do need to respect these issues and keep the pups at home or with a friend outside. What really surprises me is the number of people I see walking their dogs without bags to scoop poop and don't pick up after their dogs. All parks (not just dog parks) such as Washington Park, even the Pearl, should have stations where bags are available in case the owners don't have one of their own. I realize this would cost a bundle, but for a state that is so 'pet friendly' , it would help. Anyway, that's my 2 cents...
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Permalink Reply by gaabi on -
Public bag stations would be great - I lived in Fairfax, Virginia and I remember those in a lot of parks and that I thought people did use them. Yes, PLEASE scoop your poop and throw the bag away! Someone in my neighborhood uses these blue bags and just puts the bag with poop in it on the curb - I wonder who they think they're leaving it for, the neighborhood maid?
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Permalink Reply by Cynthia on -
I like this article. It reminds me of the time I threw gasoline on a flame by commenting on a post elsewhere.
The woman was complaining about people bringing their dogs into stores and putting them in shopping carts. That she didn't want to put her children in such a filthy seat that some animal had been in.
I commented that my dog was probably much cleaner than kids who sit there in their dirty diapers and that he was much better behaved; and if my dog wasn't allowed, then bratty little kids that scream, place their filthy little hands all over the place and drive me nuts shouldn't be either.
Well, you can imagine the reaction that got:)
I have to admit though, that when I saw people take their dogs into a place like Safeway, I got a tinge of uneasiness. I have thought about this and realize that I have no problems with dogs in the stores, if they are trained. And yet, the idea bothered me for some reason. I hate it when things bother me, so I thought much about it and realized what bothered me.
Its not the dog, its not the owner - its the law. I am one of those people who follows the law and it irks me when people get away with stuff that I would never do because I know its illegal. So, somebody needs to flat out make a decision and enforce it: Either allow all dogs in the stores, or none unless they are certified care or therapy dogs.
If its fair for one, it should be fair for all.
Besides, I would bring my Scooby down to Portland with me instead of leaving him with my family if I could take him with me everywhere . . . . I hate being without my best friend.
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Permalink Reply by Lulu on -
hey Cynthia! The first part of your post is hilarious. I can't believe you had the nerve to say that to that woman. Props to you! What a riot you must be!! I agree, whatever...dogs, kids..... hygiene is what we're talking about here, and as much as I love my dogs and all dogs equally, I do recognize that dogs eat crap (literal and figurative) and they walk around with their paws stepping on God-knows-what... it's just not conducive to good health practices to have them in supermarkets, and we're setting ourselves up for anti-pet tirades by not being good examples of responsible pet owners.
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Permalink Reply by gaabi on
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I have to say that I agree with this and I don't believe that this in any way "imperils" anyone.
Pets don't belong in the grocery store or restaurants, unless it's an outside cafe or patio. Not wanting them there has NOTHING to do with being dog friendly, it's about health and good manners. I thought that this was prohibited by state health codes anyway, that's what I remember from being a food service worker, albeit millenia ago.
A therapy animal is an animal that assists a person who is disabled. It's not just any person's pet.
I love dogs, I love seeing people with their dogs, I want one very badly myself and I personally don't mind them pretty much anywhere, as long as their owners clean up after them. I don't even care if a tiny bit of dog hair ends up in my food and I think people who freak out about it are ridiculously finicky. BUT there are plenty of people who are afraid of dogs (my boyfriend is a former mailman who's had large dogs intentionally sicc'ed on him and been bitten and he can't stand dogs), who are allergic to dogs (I know people who will become unable to breathe from dog dander in the air near them) or who just don't like them and it's very rude to inflict your dog on other people everywhere. People have a right to the sanctity and enjoyment of their own personal space.
Unfortunately, there are also lots of people who don't properly train or control their dogs; letting them defecate or urinate on the floor or anywhere; refusing to leash or control them; letting their dog run up to anyone, including small children or even babies in strollers (that's happened to my children and I've seen it happen to others); and those people ruin things for the people who are responsible and considerate pet owners. We were just at the beach this last weekend watching a family of idiots with their three, very large, friendly, untrained and apparently uncontrollable dogs galloping all over scaring other people's dogs and kids and crapping willy-nilly on the sand, when someone asked the owners to scoop, the woman screamed "Mind your own business!" so I happily reported them to the park rangers - I hope they got a ticket. On the other hand, I didn't mind at all when a guy with his well-trained Viszla slipped it off the leash and threw tennis balls for it, we all enjoyed watching them play.
It's one thing to be "dog friendly" and another to expect everyone around you to put up with anything you do, no matter how inconsiderate of others it may be. Just ask yourself if what you're doing might cause other people around you to be unreasonably uncomfortable or ill at ease: if it is, it's rude and you shouldn't be doing it.
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Permalink Reply by Lulu on
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hey Nancy! Never underestimate the rudeness and ignorance of people, and super props to you for reporting them to the park ranger. I would have spoken out, too. I hope the "family of idiots" gets parasites so they realize the risk they're putting everyone else in by soiling the sand. Jackasses.
I'm slammed with work right now, will call you when I'm settled and we'll go bond over canines and martinis ;-)
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Permalink Reply by SCHEL HARRIS on -
Hmmmmm......Hmmmmmm, lotsa thoughts on this.
Portland's Dog friendly attitude was also one of the many reasons we moved here. I get all warm n' lovey inside when I travel up most any nieghborhoods' walks and see so many people with Dogs out n' about.
I have 2 myself and with our pet sittin' and fostering some times up to 6 dogs at a time! I love them, so much more than people. I take my furry kids most everywhere with me when I can...sometimes I dont even need to break out the travel water jug I bring because so many businesses will have water bowls out already..love dat!
BUT, I just cant see bringing my Dogs into a grocery store...just doesnt feel correct. At home I can pick the randomly floating hair out of my food..especially during the summer when loose hairs' a plenty are floating around, even after I just swept. A food store eh.....it's kinda rude to expect others to deal with my constantly shedding white shepards' hair out the food they just bought...Although clean, and kinda pretty fur it is...still, just doesnt feel proper. ..not to mention the risk of one of them grabbin' a pack of hot dogs and goin' at it right there on the floor. On the otherhand, a cafe, food eatery or a coffee shop, especially out door seating seems "correct" I want my best freinds to be able to hang with me at these places..they love the sights n' smells and meeting other furry kids, so it's as much an outing for them as it is for me...so I guess I'm torn on this issue
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Permalink Reply by Lulu on
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Good Lord man, you write like Huck Finn talks. All proper like and all.. yikes! My two pence worth: get a Shop Vac (da bomb when you have furry friends - f*ck that $500 Dyson piece of crap), and ask Santa to leave you a Roomba in yer stocking this Crimbo.
I agree, no pet hair in food is a good thing! I spend many hours of my day trying to keep it just so :-)
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