Doggy Cafes may be opening up soon around the HRM

On Thursday night on Live at Five on CTV they did a story about a local pet supply store who has tables outside their store and what they've started doing is selling their dog treats and doggy cakes to customers so that they can serve them to the dogs outside - and the humans can order take out from local eateries and have it delivered to the tables outside their store. So the humans can eat at the tables and have their dogs with them.

The law in Nova Scotia has always been that dogs can't be around where food is purchased or served - so this didn't seems kosher - so I emailed the department of Agriculture to find out if this is in fact legal - and guess what - they emailed me back saying that it IS in fact legal.

As long as the food isn't purchased on the premises that it's eaten at - the dogs can be there! What the department of Agriculture rep said exactly was:

As long as food for human consumption is not sold or purchased at Willow's Pet Palace, then it is okay for food to be consumed on the premises. To answer your question, their business practice is legal, and as long as food is not purchased on-site, anyone could open a terrace to eat food that has been prepared and purchased in a licensed eating establishment.

So when I read that I thought to myself - this is too good to be true! So I immediately emailed local dog businesses who I thought would be good candidates for opening up doggy cafes outside their stores.

Metro Dog Wash for instance has "Jane's on the Common" - right around the corner. They have fabulous food, Metro Dog Wash has great doggy treats for the dogs to eat - a couple tables out front and you've got a great little meal and some good time spent so that then you can go have a tummy filled romp on the Commons.

Bark & Fitz would be a perfect spot for a little cafe out front. The possibilities are endless. You show up early for your grooming - and have a snack from tons of places around there - and your dog has a snack that he can then throw up because he's so freaked out about being groomed! haha!

Halifax is on their way to getting a little more dog friendly I hope!