In Alexandria, a town some believe is dog-friendly to the extreme, the Health Department has decided to crack down on restaurants that allow alfresco doggie dining, launching a dragnet that has cast a pall over the first warm days of spring.
In the last two weeks, Alexandria health inspectors have told the proprietors of two restaurants that they can no longer serve owners and their dogs on outside patios. Employees of local coffee shops have been warned not to let patrons inside with pets in tow.
And after intense negotiation, the Doggie Happy Hour at the Holiday Inn Select in Old Town -- a twice-weekly gathering that draws more than 100 customers and their pets -- will be allowed to continue, but with strict limitations and carryout food only. Happy Hour attendees learned the news this week in fliers set on each table, weighted down against the wind by jumbo dog biscuits.
'Up in paws'
Local dog owners are furious about the crackdown and feel their way of life is being threatened.
"The dog owners are up in paws!" said Randy Plante, an airline pilot and Old Town resident. "Alexandria is known as a dog-friendly city, and it's hypocritical of the Health Department to prevent people from going to businesses with their dogs."
Restaurateur Pat Troy, who is being forced by the Health Department to give up his canine patio menu of chopped hamburger and lamb stew, has organized a protest and petition drive today, after health officials brief the City Council on the enforcement effort. Troy sent dozens of warning faxes to residents this week titled "Memo: Dog War in Alexandria."
Bob Custard, the Health Department's environmental health manager, said that health codes have prohibited dogs at restaurants -- including outdoor seating areas -- since 1940 and that the city just wants to keep residents safe. Pets carry bacteria that can infect humans and result in severe illness and even death, Custard said.
Health officials began examining the city's policy on outdoor dining with dogs last fall after two restaurants, Troy's Ireland's Own and Chadwicks, applied for variances to allow dogs in their outdoor seating areas. Chadwicks had been serving dog owners for a year, and Troy says he has served dog owners for two decades. Owners are responsible for picking up any dog poop, though Troy says, "I've never seen a dog do his business on the patio."
The Health Department denied the two variance requests and asked Timothy Ruth, the food and beverage director of the Holiday Inn, to stop offering table service in the courtyard during Doggie Happy Hour, which the hotel had been hosting for five years, Custard said. Now, only carryout food and drinks are available. Ruth said he did not yet know how the changes would affect his business, which brings in $100,000 in revenue a year.
Custard said his office has spent long hours in recent months talking to state health officials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition to see if there was any way that doggie dining could be allowed. The state health code states that dogs, with the exception of working police dogs and guide dogs for the disabled, are not allowed on the premises of businesses that serve food.
"We've spent a lot of time researching that [to see whether] there was any way it could be done safely and made this decision. It's not like one morning we got up on the wrong side of bed and didn't like dogs," Custard said.
Dog-crazed city
Although officials in neighboring areas of Virginia said doggie dining was not allowed in their jurisdictions, dogs sit under tables at many sidewalk cafes in the District and Annapolis, including the small terrace of chef Michel Richard's four-star restaurant Citronelle in Georgetown. Richard is a native of France, where dogs are welcome nearly everywhere.
Europeans have always been more civilized about these things, said Alexandria dog trainer John Landry. "I guess we're still in the stone ages," he said.
Landry noted that Alexandria has a reputation as one of the most dog-crazed cities in Virginia. That's partly because many of its 135,000 residents are affluent singles, childless couples or empty nesters. The city boasts two thriving dog bakeries, several dog parks, a dog masseuse and a well-known dog training academy, the Old Towne School for Dogs. The Doggie Happy Hour has made national news.
Some residents applauded the city's enforcement effort, saying human health should take priority.
"It's gotten blown out of proportion, with doggie protests and so forth," said Lori Cooper, chairman of the Alexandria Public Health Advisory Commission, the city's health advisory board. "I think it's unfortunate it's being perceived as some way to limit recreation and entertainment."
But Troy and Ruth wonder why they were allowed to operate undisturbed for years. And dog owners smell a conspiracy. They worry that perhaps the city is trying to exact retribution for their vocal opposition to plans to relocate a dog park that sits on a piece of prime real estate next to the Potomac River, a debate that dragged on for months.
When former Alexandria City Council member Claire Marie Eberwein (R) voiced her opposition to the waterfront dog run, Old Town dog lovers helped orchestrate her defeat, complete with "Anyone but Claire" buttons.
"This is payback," Plante said. "Why all of the sudden. Why? We're pro-business and pro-tourist and pro-dog, and all of the sudden they're saying, 'Go away'? Something smells."
