‘She’s like my child’: Mass. dog owners are bringing their pets everywhere, raising health concerns

BEVERLY, Mass. — A growing number of dog owners appear to have separation anxiety with their pets.

Dogs are being brought along to shop for high-end apparel, pick up supplies at the hardware store, or keep their human friends company at outdoor dining facilities.

Nola is welcomed on the patio of the Anchor Pub & Grille in Beverly and that makes her owner Julie Arnold happy.

“She’s like my child, I’ll be honest. She likes to go places.”

But not all dogs that visit the Anchor Pub & Grille are always as sweet, or well-behaved, as Nola.

“Sometimes dogs just get overwhelmed, barking too much,” says Mackenzie Borowski, a bartender at the Anchor.

The restaurant recently put a sign in a prominent place outlining a policy for unruly dogs.

“We’ve had a couple of reactive dogs, but once they react once or twice, we ask them to politely leave.”

Dogs go with their owners everywhere these days. Boston 25 News recently saw one dog at the food court of a local mall.

It’s no secret many people have a deep connection with their pets. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 97% of pet owners consider their furry family members part of the family.

51% of the respondents said the pets have the same status within the family as any human family member.

Matt Motta, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, said “There are several legitimate public health risks that we need to think about when we talk about bringing dogs into public spaces.”

Motta loves dogs but doesn’t think they should go everywhere.

“It’s hard to talk about, but fecal matter that dogs may bring into a restaurant can potentially get people sick if they come in contact with it. Dogs can also bring parasites like ticks and other insects.”

Motta said that dogs can cause allergic reactions in other patrons. He also worries that some dogs, despite state ordinances, are unvaccinated.

He says pet owners need to be vigilant about following the rules, which can vary from one community to the next.

“We all think our dogs are perfect, but it really is ultimately up to us as a matter of personal responsibility to know what the laws are and to follow them because ultimately, public health is a public responsibility.”

It was easy to find violators at Griggs Park in Brookline.

It’s an off-leash site for registered dogs from dawn until 1 pm.

Signs clearly state the children’s playground area is always a dog-free zone.

Still, in the late afternoon recently, Boston 25 News saw a number of dogs freely roaming the park while one was right next to the children’s sandbox.

Laney Nee, the animal behavior manager at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said she is not surprised how bold people are with their dogs these days.

She said most dogs need time to acclimate to a new environment.

She adds that owners need to monitor how a dog reacts to a new setting so an uncomfortable situation can be avoided.

“If they’re a little bit nervous, apprehensive, you see that body language of fear, ears back, lip licking, tail tucked, all of that stuff, then you want to take it slow.”

Julie Arnold says most people are happy to meet Nola, but she tries to use common sense when bringing her out.

“You don’t want to do anything to disrespect a store or anything like that. If there is a confined space, I don’t bring her in. If there’s much of a question, I don’t bring her in.”

The experts told us that this trend of bringing dogs everywhere really took off after COVID. That’s when many people adopted dogs and grew very attached to them because they weren’t able to socialize with people.

It’s important to differentiate this trend from the role of service dogs.

Service dogs are highly trained to help people with a number of disabilities. They’re allowed in public spaces according to federal law.

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