Dogs may soon be allowed to eat outside with their human on restaurant patios. The State senate passed a bill today to allow restaurants to have dogs on their outdoor patios.
The legislation gives specific requirements restaurants have to meet in order to let Fido on the patio. Local governments can impose stricter requirements or ban the practice all together.
Matt Blakely is with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. He says restaurants can already get a waiver to allow dogs on their patios.
“If there is improvement to that process, be happy to help with that, but, at this point I don’t know that a new law is necessary.”
Bill sponsor, Republican Senator Margaret O’Brien says restaurants need to easily be allowed to have dogs on the property in order to stay competitive as a tourism state.