Pets in food stores

merika

Wol
O.G.
Nov 1, 2006
10,400
115
I was shopping for groceries yesterday and went to the deli section of the store. They have open shelves with food items - cheeses and self serve olive jars and stuff like that, and packages of cooked chicken and other deli items.

Some of the goods were on waist high tables. they were wrapped items like cooked pizza and foccacia bread.

A young woman was in the store with a little dog (a scottie or some small breed like that) and she and her bf were walking around taking photos of the dog in the store. This woman was taking pictures in the deli section holding the dog right above the food on the low shelves and tables!! I know the food was wrapped and airtight (though there were open jars of olives) but the sight repulsed me so much that I did not buy anything from the deli section.

I know there are lots of people who do bring their dogs to the store. I'm not a fan of non-service animals in stores, but I try not to mind if the animals are well-behaved.

Do you think what the woman was doing was okay? I thought of telling someone at the store but then just walked away.
 
It's illegal here unless it's an assistance animal. Totally violates health regulations. It wouldn't bother me if it's an assistance animal though. Among other things, assistance animals are trained to stay out of things like that.

I definitely would have said something to the store manager. That's a trend that does NOT need to start....
 
Yuck! It's illegal here too (not sure if it's a state or county law).

We take our parrot with us to a few stores but we never go in places that sell food. We usually take him places like Lowe's or Home Depot... and it's just to keep him well socialized.
 
I don't think you can bring pets to stores here in Maryland (at least I've never seen it).

You can bring them to pet shops, which they love to visit when we pick out treats and toys. I also bring my very well-behaved senior girl shopping with me at garden centers, but I wouldn't dream of bringing a pet to a place where food is served or a shopping mall or anything like that.
 
That's completely disgusting. I hate it when people do that and I make it a point to say something to them. It's completely unsanitary and is more than likely against health code. Animals should not be allowed into any type of store (other than Petsmart and the like) unless they are a helping animal.
 
Do you think what the woman was doing was okay? I thought of telling someone at the store but then just walked away.

Aside from being gross, it probably violated health code regulations.

At Santana Row, a very pet-friendly shopping center in Santa Clara, I once saw a woman with a dog in a restaurant. She was sitting at the bar with the dog in her lap. :wtf:
 
I guess I don't find it that repulsive. In my opinion, some pets are cleaner and better mannered than the people I find in grocery stores -- especially when it comes to samples/open jar items.
 
I guess I don't find it that repulsive. In my opinion, some pets are cleaner and better mannered than the people I find in grocery stores -- especially when it comes to samples/open jar items.

I agree, sometimes one's pet may be more hygenically sound than some people..... however, I wouldn't bring my dogs to any store that had grocery items as a rule of thumb. Now, I will go to Marshall's dog in hand.
 
Ew. I wouldn't have bought anything there either. I love my dog to death, but as dogs, cats, and other small animals are pretty much nasty and ridden with pests, germs, and other bacteria, they do not belong around food in that way. I'm surprised at some people. They need to understand that pets--much like small children--just don't belong some places! My BF told me once that when he was stationed in Germany people were allowed to take their pets into restaurants, stores, whatever. But this is America, and unless they are service animals (or regular animals going to PetSmart), they need to be left at home.
 
It doesn't bother me in the least. Alright, holding your animal OVER (open) food items wouldn't be the most sanitary thing in the world...do any of you realize how disgusting the baby seat is in shopping carts?

But there is nothing wrong IMO with bringing pets into stores.

It really comes down to...there are pet people, and there are non-pet people, and as Intlset mentioned, most of the pets are better mannered than most people in public.
 
animals are not allowed in US supermarkets or anywhere food is served unless they are service animals. I know this isn't the case in France though. Do you live in the US?

US - in Connecticut

It doesn't bother me in the least. Alright, holding your animal OVER (open) food items wouldn't be the most sanitary thing in the world...do any of you realize how disgusting the baby seat is in shopping carts?

But there is nothing wrong IMO with bringing pets into stores.

It really comes down to...there are pet people, and there are non-pet people, and as Intlset mentioned, most of the pets are better mannered than most people in public.

I maybe a non-pet person but that woman was picking up food, posing with the dog and her food in the same hand and then putting the food back on the shelves, letting the dog lick her fingers and then touching the (wrapped, I know) food....I do draw the line at getting dog saliva on my fingers when picking up food!

I do understand people can argue back by saying who knows how many people touch the food on the shelves that don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom, but what was happening in the store was something that in my opinion was totally unnecessary.
 
ROTFLMBO!!! Isn't that the truth! I saw a teenager in a local grocery store not that long ago with NO SHOES! Ewwww! That's just wrong.
But then dogs who walk in stores don't wear shoes either - not much difference between a dog who walked outside from a pavement into a store and a teenager who was barefoot - well, maybe the guy's feet were bigger!