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Discussion / Re: Pet Passports???
« on: March 04, 2013, 21:36:27 »
I'm going to voice my full thoughts here rather than trying to cram them into the Twitter character limits!
My main concern is as Cebelius raises above; this is a very busy event with hundreds of people. Surely a vet slip would be advisable to prevent any undetected infections spreading? Dogs are indeed normally allowed at the hotel but a gathering of hundreds upon hundreds of people is a rather different occasion. The Puma Hotels websites do already state that dogs are allowed so I guess I just find it odd that CF needed to draw attention in a "bring your dogs!" type fashion.
Secondly, reactive dogs. While I agree that many dogs are well socialised and would probably not cause an issue, I do have concerns that this is left entirely to the discretion of the owner. Even the most placid of dogs can have an adverse reaction to something new - such as a large gathering of costumed people, for example - and it can be extremely hard to tell how any animal is going to respond. Service dogs are trained to be pretty much bomb-proof in these situations but it's a sad fact that the average dog may not have been socialised/conditioned enough to ensure that it won't react to this environment. YES it is down to the owner to ensure their dog is healthy and in a good stable mindset but some people can make bad decisions. I realise that we're not going to have packs of dogs roaming the halls by the dozen, but it only takes one.
Cats I realise are confined to rooms but I know many people have rather severe cat allergies. Puma Hotels do not state anywhere on their website that they usually allow cats, is this arrangement especially for the convention?
I'm not trying to be all "ALL THE DOGS WILL BITE EVERYONE AND GET FLEAS FOREVER, CFZ2013 DOOMPOCALYPSE" here - I think the idea in itself is nice and I'm all for getting to meet some happy dawgs at con - but I do think that these are valid concerns.
My main concern is as Cebelius raises above; this is a very busy event with hundreds of people. Surely a vet slip would be advisable to prevent any undetected infections spreading? Dogs are indeed normally allowed at the hotel but a gathering of hundreds upon hundreds of people is a rather different occasion. The Puma Hotels websites do already state that dogs are allowed so I guess I just find it odd that CF needed to draw attention in a "bring your dogs!" type fashion.
Secondly, reactive dogs. While I agree that many dogs are well socialised and would probably not cause an issue, I do have concerns that this is left entirely to the discretion of the owner. Even the most placid of dogs can have an adverse reaction to something new - such as a large gathering of costumed people, for example - and it can be extremely hard to tell how any animal is going to respond. Service dogs are trained to be pretty much bomb-proof in these situations but it's a sad fact that the average dog may not have been socialised/conditioned enough to ensure that it won't react to this environment. YES it is down to the owner to ensure their dog is healthy and in a good stable mindset but some people can make bad decisions. I realise that we're not going to have packs of dogs roaming the halls by the dozen, but it only takes one.
Cats I realise are confined to rooms but I know many people have rather severe cat allergies. Puma Hotels do not state anywhere on their website that they usually allow cats, is this arrangement especially for the convention?
I'm not trying to be all "ALL THE DOGS WILL BITE EVERYONE AND GET FLEAS FOREVER, CFZ2013 DOOMPOCALYPSE" here - I think the idea in itself is nice and I'm all for getting to meet some happy dawgs at con - but I do think that these are valid concerns.