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Month: August 2023

Publix to Florida: Do not bring your pet dog inside. Really, don’t.

Publix to Florida: Do not bring your pet dog inside. Really, don’t.

Publix — a supermarket as much a part of Florida culture as Disney World, sunshine and snowbirds — is taking a stand on dogs.

As in, unless they are service animals, no pet dogs perusing the produce aisle, no pups riding high in grocery carts, no dogs tucked into shopping totes.

Popping up in store lobbies from Asheville to Boca Raton are tall signs in Publix green. The placards counsel customers that, while legitimate service animals are welcome inside, emotional support animals and pets definitely are not.

The signs say that under federal law, service animals are “dogs or miniature horses trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities,” and the Food and Drug Administration does not allow nonservice animals.

That means even with a note from a doctor, “dogs, pets and other animals whose sole function is to provide comfort, companionship, or emotional support do not qualify as service animals,” according to the sign. What’s more, trying to pass off a pet as a service animal is against the law in Florida and other states. read more