Sarah Baum’s love of dogs runs up against her four-year-old twins’ phobia from family pets. Her experiences are indicative of the increasing anxiety of parents with children in public spaces where dogs are allowed. Baum still recalls the terror an early morning call she received when her twins were only eight months old. Two unleashed greyhounds came barreling at them, knocking her newborn twins out of their stroller. Now, a traumatic event like that would leave her with lasting anxiety at taking her children anywhere public where there could be dogs.
“I’m acutely aware that being in public with my twins might lead to another encounter with an unpredictable dog,” Baum shared. One day we were out on the playground, a dog ran by, and my children freaked out and were screaming. They attempted to ascend me as if I were an arborist.
The incident has made Baum cautious. She confesses to having the sense that safe, accessible public spaces for children are rapidly disappearing. “It’s made me quite anxious about being in public with my twins, in case we come across a dog,” she said. In her free time, she loves hanging out with her rescued feline companion Leo. Though true enough, she is careful to never allow him to be alone with her babes. “I’m treating him as a cat. Baum realized that in doing so he was not truly treating him as a person. He illustrated the need for creating a separation between animals and small children.
Sumi Mahendran’s life is focused on her cat, Zara. Mahendran envisions a day when cats feel welcome wherever they go, and people regard them in public spaces with kindness and curiosity. To encourage acceptance, she has begun taking Zara out on a leash. She hopes this act will start to shift how people view cats. “I think we should treat them with a lot of respect and patience,” Mahendran commented about pets in general.
The division in how different pet owners approach public spaces is evident in the experiences of Chris, who owns a registered assistance dog named Lachie. Chris can bring a different perspective. Because his service dog is an extension of him, he takes his dog with him everywhere he goes to public places. Yet he understands that not everyone is as smitten with dogs as he might be. His greatest concern is ensuring that everyone in his presence is at ease. “I’m acutely aware people may not like dogs and my first thoughts are really for others,” he explained.
In this post, Chris elaborated on the responsibilities that accompany having an assistance dog. It forces me to be very aware of everything that’s going on with my body and the dog. Because I have an obligation to protect the dog and an obligation to work the dog,” he said. Lastly, he makes a great point about the unpredictability of greeting other dogs out in the world. This is his big caveat, though— “I don’t know how your dog is going to react. I don’t know what kind of training that handler has put into that animal.
Currently in Australia, pet ownership trends are not equal across communities. Professor Gabriele Marranci, a pet training expert, was horrified that Australia was so far behind Europe on training industry standards. He asserts that we are over-humanizing our pets to the detriment of creating poorly trained and socialized animals. “The problem then arises when it becomes a safety issue or an unknown,” he remarked.
Meet Anupam Sharma, who operates Melbourne’s most dog-friendly bar—and he’d be happy to take any four-legged visitors off your hands. Perhaps most importantly, he leans into the pet owner’s struggle between pet behavior and socialization. He pointed out the reality of some patrons’ behavior, saying, “We have noticed very drunk people throwing up in the dog bowl.” Sharma believes that if establishments begin banning individuals based on behavior, it should be directed at people rather than their pets. “If you’re going to be banning anyone based on their behavior, you’d be banning the people,” he stated.
Pet-friendly public transport Jennifer Kent recommends that pet owners be considered when designing transit spaces. She is a huge advocate of implementing things like an express “dog-only carriage.” It would help to reduce the conflict between pet owners and non-pet owners, as programs like this have done in some European cities.
The battle over dogs in public spaces is inflaming passions on both sides. It does so by asking big questions around safety, acceptance and social norms in Australian society. It’s becoming an increasingly common struggle for families with shared-space pets. In all of these cases, discussions about improved regulations and needed tweaks will be the first to occur.
