MON DIEU! DOGS IN CAFES

Lately, I've seen several dog owners come into my usual cafe carrying small dogs in their arms, and to my amazement no one has asked them to leave.  I love seeing dog lovers push the envelope on a stupid CA health law by bringing their best friends inside the cafe with them.  While I will concede that certain dogs, particularly slobbery ones like mine (no one wants drool slung in their coffee cup) could be a problem in a cafe, small, well-behaved dogs carried in their owners' arms should not be of concern to anyone.  The lady I saw today even set her miniature poodle down long enough to put cream and sugar in her coffee.  He didn't pee on the floor, no one got poison dog lips on his bagel, and no one complained.

Personally, I'd much rather see dogs in places of business not usually welcoming to our canine friends than a bunch of ill-mannered, snot-nosed kids.  I think the chances of contracting germs from a child are far greater than from a dog, as was the case with a young boy I encountered recently in an establishment I frequent. His mother was blathering away on her cell phone to a party at the other end about her son's highly contagious skin infection.  I immediately felt my skin start to itch and twitch. Meanwhile, little Johnny was running amock in the store, wallowing on the cloth chairs, touching everything in sight, and spreading his infection everywhere.  I couldn't wait to get out of there! Leave the contagious kid at home. Give me a nice, clean dog in my cafe any time!

Now, I already wrote about this dogs in restaurants subject in my pet column and got all kinds of hate mail from petless people and allergy sufferers, ad nauseum, so please don't bother raking me over the coals again, 'cause I don't care what anyone says.  I want to see more pet-friendly businesses in Sacramento, including the ones that serve food and beverages.  I want people to be able to bring their dogs inside cafes with them, if only briefly while they purchase their drinks, particularly on hot summer days when no dog should ever be left outside in the sun or inside a car to cook.  People who stubbornly insist on bringing their dogs along everywhere with them, regardless of the weather, will at least not be putting their dogs in needless peril because of some anti-Rover rule.  Many pets' lives would be saved if stores could only be persuaded to relax these ridiculous laws that were probably entered on the books in the 1800s when you couldn't bring your horse with you into the saloon or miss the spittoon.