At home, on the street, or even in the office, if Danielle Bauer is there, chances are her dog “Beans” is there too.
“She’s a really well-behaved dog,” Bauer said. “She actually comes to work with me every day. She’s been coming to work for six years.”
The 8-year-old chihuahua mix has also been a regular at Vancouver’s outdoor patios. Bauer said she has “half a dozen” favourite spots downtown that have welcomed Beans in the past, but recently -- citing a crackdown from health inspectors -- these places have begun turning her and her dog away.
Provincial law prohibits dogs from places where food is being prepared and served, meaning the restaurants are technically required to refuse to allow Beans to dine on their patios.
Vancouver Coastal Health is responsible for enforcing the law, so Bauer started a petition to get them to relax their enforcement of it.
“The petition is by no means asking for every patio to have to allow dogs in there,” she said. “Far from it. I would never ask that. It’s really just saying if a restaurant would like to cater to dog owners -- to that demographic -- then they should be able to do that.”
Ian Tostenson, president of the British Columbia Restaurant and Food Services Association, told CTV News most restaurants wouldn’t like that option.
“It creates inconsistency,” he said. “If you are a dog owner, you’re not going to go from patio to patio to see who is wanting to do this and who isn’t wanting to do this.”
Tostenson said Vancouver restaurants currently do a good job of allowing dogs around the perimeter of patios, and that not all patio guests would be happy to have them moved onto the patios proper.
Bauer said tying small dogs like Beans up to the outside of a patio doesn’t really work.
“The big dogs are being tied outside, but little dogs who can kind of squeeze through the bars, it’s a no-go,” she said. “It’s a shame that it’s not an option to have this member of our family with us.”
