On 2021-06-11 6:31 p.m., Sqwertz wrote:
> Is this just an Austin, Texas phenomenon, or do a lot of people in
> other states take their obviously non-service dogs into grocery
> stores too?
>
> Some dogs sit in carts or the baby seats, some get blankets to make
> them comfy, some are being clutched to chests, some peek out of
> purses, and even others are on 8-14 foot leashes - sometimes 2 or 3
> wide at a time in the aisles so nobody can get past them. And any
> number of them can be barking, yapping, or growling at other
> customers or dogs at any given time.
>
> Is this just as common in others cities and states? Do you or
> somebody you know take your non-service dog into a grocery store?
> Why?

It was happening here for a while but I haven't seen it much lately.
Maybe it is the pandemic and the whackos with phony service dogs have
locked themselves down.

We had an incident at our art festival a couple years ago. I was working
the wine bar when I saw two young boys walking a dog. Actually, the dog
was walking them. It had a harness and Serve Dog patch on it. It was on
a long, long lead and out of control and I immediately realized it was
no service dog. It turned out to be the "service dog" of the younger
brother of a young artist. The kid was autaustic or something.We had a
serious complaint from another artist who claimed to be violently
allergic to dogs. We adopted a policy that we would admit only certified
service dogs.

Even that can be an issue because there are outfits online who sell
certificates. There is always a sale on, so for $149.95 you can get the
whole deal, the leash, harness, Service Dog patch, and a certificate
that you can fill in for yourself.

Apparently the province of British Columbia has passed a law dealing
with service animals. They have to be trained for a specific task and
then certified by the authourities. There is a hefty fine for trying to
pass off a service animal as being certified if it is not. I heard
recently that airlines have taken action to deny a lot of "service animals"