DHEC taking aim at Fido and friends
5/13/2008 12:37 AM   1 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend



I read with a touch of bemusement the Saturday morning story about the state's health agency issuing warnings against restaurants who allow pet owners to bring their dogs along for a morning cup of coffee and a breakfast snack.

DHEC's totems have decreed that breakfast and lunchtime diners must leave Fido at home or hitch him to a post on the outer perimeters of the business establishment.

In Munich, Germany, where I once was stationed with the Army, I saw numerous restaurants with outdoor tables and a lot of pet owners taking their meals with their pets sitting quietly under and beside the tables. It is a common practice in Great Britain, France, Sweden, Belgium and a few more enlightened places.

Having dined at outside tables at New Moon (one of the many wonderful restaurants we have in the downtown), I never was discomforted by the folks at the next table having a drink and sandwich with their pets lying or sitting on the sidewalk beside the tables.

I had a friend once tell me he had rather sit with his pet than some of the customers, especially the ones wearing baggy pants and baseball caps. So what are you going to do about those types, DHEC?

I read this story to my dogs Lightning and Scooter, who often sit with me at the kitchen table and wait for the biscuits and chicken nuggets to be passed around. It is the high point of their day, other than chasing squirrels and yapping at customers arriving at and leaving the restaurant next door.

I told Lightning and Scooter to get ready because it may not be long before I get a letter from DHEC warning me about letting them hang around the table. That's when someone is going to get bitten.

Carl Langley

Aiken

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