Should animals be allowed at farmers' markets? [Food/Vendor]

2011 Sep 19
Discuss. (Personally, I like taking our dog with us as it makes it easier to shop and allows her some good socialization.)

My husband and I visited the Lansdowne Farmers' Market with our dog a few weeks back, and I noticed a few signs up that suggested that the rules for dogs at the market were going to be a bit tighter. Dogs should be no more than six feet from the vendors, for example.

What I didn't expect was to be yelled at for our dog looking at a bushel of tomatoes the wrong way. The seller asserted that our dog put her nose to the tomato, but odder still was his rationale that "some people are allergic to dogs and won't be able to eat the tomato if the dog touches it." He told us that he didn't want to do business with us, even if my husband was standing away from his stall while I purchased, because we had tarnished the produce.

This anecdote is somewhat beside the point. I'm wondering what you fine folks, as shoppers at markets, think of regulations on pets. Are they needed/warranted? Or would they take away from your experience?

2011 Sep 19
I'm a dog owner and we take him wherever we can, but I'm largely supportive of regulations against dogs in food areas. I know how unhygienic my dog's feet and fur are and I know the sort of horrible things he sniffs and eats; while he is very well behaved there are plenty of others who aren't.

I wouldn't want to eat food touched by a dog, so I'm sure others don't - I can sympathise with a vendor who doesn't want dogs anywhere near his produce. Although your dog may not have touched his tomatoes, he's probably concerned about other shoppers seeing a dog in close proximity to the food and electing not to buy it.

2011 Sep 20
I thought you were talking about cows and sheep. Those yes. Pets, no. Especially dogs because they are going to try to eat anything they can. Maybe some dogs are better behaved, but you can't make a regulation saying that only bad behaved dogs need to be kept out. Don't want no dog chewing on things on the top of the table.

2011 Sep 20
no pets at lansdowne farmer's markets. the number of people that bring their dogs to the lansdowne market is too high. i have seen dogs behaving badly there (i have not seen any inspecting the produce). if i saw your dog sniffing the tomatoes, i would not buy those tomatoes.

it also drives me crazy how many people stand chatting while their dogs are straining at the leash and making it impossible for people to get around them. this seems to always happen right at the food tent.

2011 Sep 20
Remember its not the dogs that are the problem, but the owners. Most (99%) of the owners are responsible owners, but there are exceptions, as always. The new rule was broke in mainly to keep the dogs out of the eating/sitting tent as per restaurants.

2011 Sep 20
I'll confess I'm a dog lover right off, and I do take my well behaved cavalier king charles to lansdowne all the time. Dogs have never been allowed inside the food tents at Lansdowne, so that much is not new.

My dog has never tried to eat anything, is well socialized, and I would substitute all the negative comments above for parents who insist on bringing badly behaved toddlers or kids in strollers. I've seen them fingering foods with their spittle and poop soaked hands, while latte swilling moms have a stroller fest in the middle of the aisle chatting away. I venture to say that teams of child filled wagons are more disruptive to the shopping process than the occasional well trained dog. Ottawa is becoming less and less dog friendly. I would not like to see this option disappear from a public outdoor farmer's market. Just another example of attempts to over-regulate Ottawa into a city of bland bureaucratic mediocrity. Real cities allow for the existence of dogs: I have been to many restaurants and bars in Europe where it is not unusual to see dogs indoors with their owners, and many farmer's markets not only allow leashed dogs, but embrace them by providing water dishes and free treats. I for one will not nearly go to lansdowne as often if they forbid dogs. And I'll lump that kind of regulation in with the same sort of anti-food-truck red tape that compromises Ottawa's ability to be a real and vibrant city.

BTW anyone who thinks dogs (and tons of other less desirable animals) don't come in contact with their tomatoes before they get to the display at lansdowne, has never been on a farm. And Lady who Brunches, I'll malke sure I don't offend that vendor by coming anywhere near him with my dog if you message me as to which one it was.

2011 Sep 20
i was just waiting for the comparison of dogs to children to come up.

i love children AND dogs. taking my kid to the farmer's market is an opportunity to discuss where food comes from, what food looks like and tastes like (since many vendors offer samples of fruit & veg), and learn about it. i think those lessons are lost on dogs.

and honestly, you've seen spittle-dripping, poopy covered babies attacking the veggies? how do they get to the bushels of veggies? are their latte fueled mothers dangling them over the tomatoes?


2011 Sep 20
I think I'm more concerned with the number of unhygienic people touching the produce at the market. Then again, I'm not terribly concerned overall since I wash all of my produce - what's the big deal? If people have hangups over this, I recommend they go to a grocery store and never visit outdoor markets or vendors abroad. For that matter, maybe they should stop eating beef, pork and other potentially e.coli laden meats... and after that, maybe they should live in a plastic hermetically sealed bubble.

2011 Sep 20
"...you've seen spittle-dripping, poopy covered babies attacking the veggies? how do they get to the bushels of veggies? are their latte fueled mothers dangling them over the tomatoes? "

Actually yes. More often than i've ever seen a dog slobber on a tomato.

But hey, i wash everything, so i don't really care how many latte-smeared dog riding babies run riot thru the Lansdowne Market.

2011 Sep 20
hilarious! i have never seen a baby attacking a bushel of tomatoes at the lansdowne market, and poop covered baby at that! i can't believe those glebites are so ill behaved.

thanks for the laugh. i know what i am going to be looking for this sunday!

2011 Sep 20
You will never get enough sniffing dogs and grubby-handed kids at a farmer's market to out-gross the handling that goes on of grocery store produce.

Buy & wash local veggies and eat them. :)

2011 Sep 20
and the offensive kids in strollers are not babies who are pretty much harmless.
www.salon.com

2011 Sep 20
I have to say I go crazy about parents and strollers too. Wear your kids for goodness sakes! The strollers are always in the way and the parents rarely seem to realise this. And the worst part is that 9 times out of 10 it would be easier for the parents to leave the stroller at home and wear the kid. Especially so for those "travel systems". I watch them struggle and wonder sometimes.

Now that having been said, I used a stroller Saturday for taste of Wellington. Had my 17 month old in it while walking with my 7 and 9 year olds. And I was self-conscious about it too, and always very careful not to be in people's way.

I am pretty sure that was about the 5th or 6th time that 17 month old had been in a stroller, though. He normally gets worn. For shorter treks we'll let him walk or just carry him. For this one he was too young to walk it himself though, and with all the other circumstances I chose stroller.

2011 Sep 20
blubarry - i'm confused. you see giant children being pushed around in strollers with poop covered hands touching tomatoes at the lansdowne farmer's market?


2011 Sep 20
The more important issue here is the rampant tomato abuse taking place at Landsdowne. The tomatoes must be saved!!! Someone alert city Council!!! I want position statements from OSEG and the Friends of Lansdowne stat!


2011 Sep 21
I was at a farmers market in Campbell California on Sunday (amazing fruit, like nothing you see in Ottawa) - There were blockages and signs from the CA dept of health not allowing any dogs in the produce/food area of the market. This is in dog crazy CA - where showing off your dog is probably slightly more important than showing off your toddler dressed in the latest fashion design.

Anyway add it as a data point. I didn't see any poop on the tomatoes here.

2011 Sep 21
HFF, I like kids, but I think badly behaved kids with inattentive parents are a bigger disruption to other shoppers than dogs, and most dogs don't travel in cumbersome, traffic-blocking wheeled vehicles. One assumes that children should probably be cleaner and more trainable than dogs, but that is not always the case. As a responsible dog owner I am really disheartened to see dogs being by-lawed and regulated out of public places in Ottawa. Your tomato is not going to be any safer if a dog refrains from sniffing it LOL.

2011 Sep 21
blubarry - "One assumes that children should probably be cleaner and more trainable than dogs, but that is not always the case." off topic and offensive.


2011 Sep 21
Truth be told, my biggest problem with dogs is their poop. Several times there has been dog poop on the asphalt which is disgusting, unhygienic and almost impossible to clean off.

2011 Sep 21
If they'll let ME in, I can't see why they wouldn't allow dogs. I mean, you have no idea where my hands have been. You probably don't want to know, either.

2011 Sep 21
True, but if YOU publicly abuse a tomato we can perform a Citizen's Arrest and /or a tar & feathering. People get nervous when that's done to children and don't even get me started on the politically correct logistics of tar & feathering a Jack Russel...

2011 Sep 21
OSoloMeal: This ------>

2011 Sep 21
lwb regardless of my feelings towards those who compare their dogs to children, i think your original question/discussion was a legitimate one and one worth polling people about. i think if the farmers market had wider aisles, i would notice the dogs less. i think i'd like the california way, the food vendors and food market stalls being dog free and the rest of the market dog friendly.

2011 Sep 21
If I bring my dog in a big stroller maybe he can still come LOL.

2011 Sep 21
I have no issue with dogs at the farmers market as long as the owners take care of them. At least once a month I get tripped by a dog since the owner isn't paying attention and has the dog on a long leash.

2011 Sep 21
I'd personally consider cutting that lease (evil grin)

2011 Sep 21
I live in Washington DC now (and still visit here to keep au courant about what's happening in Ottawa...and what/where to eat when I'm there). There are oodles of wonderful
Markets here....and not a single one allows dogs (none that I've visited, anyway). Having grown up enjoying Ontario farmers markets...I kind of miss the pooches. My Mom bought (at my insistence) a puppy for me from a farmer at the Peterborough market in the late 70s. Best dog Ive ever known!

2011 Sep 21
Saffron, I remember when live animals at farmers' markets were de rigeur. Pets or meat, as they say. The first time I went to the byward market many years ago, they were wringing the necks of some kind of poultry right on the street.

2011 Sep 21
I go out to the Farmer's Market just about every Sunday and don't have a problem with the dogs there. I think it adds to the whole experience.. pet a dog, eat a donut, abuse some produce.. lol
But in all seriousness, I would hate to see dogs banned from the market, as long as they are well behaved there shouldn't be an issue.

Jo

2011 Sep 22
You can leave your pet home while doing your food shopping, it won't die.

I love pets especially dogs (except the annoying yappy little ones) but I don't think they should be welcome wherever people are.

Just outside the market entrance, to accommodate pet owners, they can have a place to tie them up with water bowls, but that's up to the merchants. It's up to the pet owners to make sure their dog did its business before they got there.

To those who suggest some people are unhygienic and just as risky, if not more, how do you propose we monitor that? Besides, it's the people who are doing the buying, not the dogs. This pet-human egalitarianism has gone overboard.

People are using their own responsible pet-owning behaviour and their own pets' exemplary obedience as argumanets for dogs should to be allowed everywhere? Come on, if NO pet owners and pets misbehaved, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

2011 Sep 22
omg, i just agreed with baconi.v. ;)

there is a fenced in dog area in sylvia holden park adjacent to the lansdowne farmers market. perhaps this could be better utilized. it could be encouraged to let your dogs have a nice, secure area where they could run free to sniff other dog parts and lick their own parts. the owners could then enjoy a leisurely stroll through the market, sipping lattes and eating donuts (seriously, the new donut stall is dangerously delicious).

2011 Sep 22
Not to continue to stir the pot, but no responsible dog owner would ever leave their animal in an unsupervised area full of free roaming strange dogs to go shopping. Completely irresponsible and dangerous.

I'll continue to take mine to those farmers' markets that welcome dogs as long as possible. Visit Burlington Vermont, where dogs are encouraged not only at the farmers' market, but also in many of the stores on the downtown pedestrian mall and in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants, and it is a vibrant and pleasant place to be.

Already dogs are not allowed to be within several feet of the water's edge in Ottawa parks. I'd hate to see them confined to pens. And I'll cry for Ottawa if they start banning them from the sidewalks at places like the Byward market just because they might just sniff a tomato.

Being in public means putting up with the habits and activities of other people that you may find unpleasant, and over-regulation can easily give you nice clean lovely sterile cities that are no fun at all.

2011 Sep 22
TOMATOS ARE PEOPLE TOO!!!!!!!


2011 Sep 22
I know, weird eh HFF? We actually agree on something.

I'm generally against arbitrary, broad-brush regulations that penalize good citizens more than anything, especially those applied by a government detached from reality. In answer to the OP, I'm more in favour of vendors 'managing' their customers better, as in coming down on irresponsible dog-owners (of which (no irony) blubarry is clearly not one).

As far as the right of private vendors to refuse service to a slob, dog-owner or no, that I will not dispute.

So, in short, before looking at 'regulations' per se, I'm more in favour of logical, measured case-by-case solutions between the actual people involved.

2011 Sep 22
blubarry - isn't it more natural for dogs to be among their own? aren't they known for running in packs and all that? aren't dog parks in general doggy paradise?

let's put all the stinky babies in one pen and all the slobbery dogs in another and just license the market so i can start drinking martinis with my donuts on sunday mornings.

2011 Sep 22
HFF, dog parks are a great thing, if they are supervised or if the owners are with their animals, but unfortunately you can't trust that strange dogs are well socialized. There is a correct way to introduce dogs to each other safely, and sadly not everyone recognizes that. And I would join you for a sunday morning martini at the market any time if they didn't have these pesky carrying laws in Ontario.

2011 Sep 22
HFF, I totally agree, the donut stand is a dangerous place..I live a 2 minute bike ride from Timmy's but for one of their donuts I ride about 30 mins.. the maple bacon is sooooo good.

I agree with blubarry, you can't just have a bunch of stange dogs running around together unsupervised.. just takes one to cause problems for a lot of bigger issues to come down.. maybe the stinky babies can watch them? lol


2011 Sep 23
things i no longer like: hot dogs, babies, dogs
things i love: the donut stall at lansdowne farmer's market

i've tried the sugar, lemon pistachio, lemon thyme, and vanilla dip - all fantastic. i've been desperate for real donuts to be easily available, maybe sundays is good enough. i haven't seen an apple fritter yet, i'd really like one of those with fall coming on and all the apples available close by.

2011 Sep 23
No tomato donut?

Barbarians.