NJ is one of the most dog-friendly states, and it’s awful
If you’re the kind of person who says your having a dog is just the same as having a child, you will love this. If you’re the kind of person who pushes your pampered pooch around in a baby stroller and brings it with you every time you leave the house, you’ll be over the moon.
Us normal people, not so much.
If you’ve noticed more and more people pushing the envelope of where it’s appropriate to bring dogs in New Jersey the past few years it’s not your imagination. It’s gotten out of hand. Turns out there’s a reason for this.
A few months ago, showsightmagazine.com ran a story on the most dog-friendly states. New Jersey was high on the list.
They looked at the number of pet-friendly restaurants, stores, hotels, etc., that have a welcoming policy.
The site says New Jersey has over 1,700 restaurants that openly welcome pets and nearly 400 hotels.
In addition, they looked at the amount of pet services like number of doggie daycare centers, veterinarians, pet stores, groomers, etc. In that category alone we rank fourth among all states, and in the pet-friendly facilities category we rank second.
All things considered, the report says New Jersey ranks eighth place for pet-friendly states.
The biggest reason? The pandemic.
For around a decade people in New Jersey were gradually bending rules and starting to boldly take dogs into stores and restaurants that were largely afraid to cause a scene by challenging them. Many truly selfish people faked their pets as a “service animal” when they were no such thing.
The introduction of the “emotional support animal” complicated the matter more and brought even fewer challenges. People grew even more selfish when the lockdowns started lifting and they didn’t want to leave their dogs home without them. What had been going on at an increasing trickle for years suddenly became a flood.
Businesses were hurting. Restaurants needed customers to come back. More managers looked the other way or formalized a pet-friendly policy to lure people back in.
And here we are. The hell with others. The hell with health codes in establishments where food is involved. The hell with people who have severe allergic reactions to pet dander or who have children deathly afraid of dogs after a traumatic attack. None of that counts as long as “dog parents” are allowed to be selfish and change the rules of common sense.
So celebrate New Jersey being so dog-friendly if you care to. I’ll be over here, the sane one, saying goodbye to my mixed breed dog Finn as I leave for the grocery store.
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Gallery Credit: Bankrate/New Jersey 101.5
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.
