Is Sonoma County going to the dogs?

In the history of public poops, what the white dog did in Santa Rosa Plaza on a recent weekday afternoon has to rank as one of the all-time great evacuations, or grossest, depending on the category.

The large dog, tugging at the leash of its owner, trotted into the mall past the posted “Code of Conduct” that states pets are prohibited in the mall, other than service animals, which clearly this canine was not.

Upon reaching the mall’s bustling main hall, the dog squatted to relieve itself outside the entrance to the Teavana store, eliciting shock and a few giggles from onlookers.

“You’re gonna clean that up, right?” a mall maintenance worker yelled out to the dog’s owner, who quickly improvised by grabbing napkins from the tea store’s self-serve stand.

The man scooped up what he could of the fetid mess and dumped it into a trash receptacle. By the time a cleaning crew arrived on the scene to polish off the job, the man and the dog were gone.

“People don’t care. They just walk and leave it behind, every day,” said Moe Qawash, who works at a calendar kiosk in the mall.

The incident highlights controversy over people bringing their pets, in particular dogs, to places such as malls, grocery stores, restaurants and hospitals. Pets are taken just about everywhere their masters deign to go, even when doing so violates official policies or apparent common sense.

Ellen Bauer, Sonoma County’s public health director, witnessed the trend for herself recently at the Plaza when a woman brought a large dog into Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill at lunchtime. Bauer said the woman asked for a key to the restroom, and then upon her return, ate with the dog at her feet. Bauer said the dog was not wearing a vest or displaying behavior suggesting that it was providing a service to its owner.

“I was shocked,” Bauer said.

Some owners of businesses that allow dogs are starting to rethink the policies, while advocates for people with disabilities continue to seek solutions for the problem of pet owners misrepresenting their pets as service animals just so they can take them into places where it otherwise would be forbidden.

Others argue that the problem lies not with the animals or with their owners, but with the rules and laws, which they say need updating to reflect the integration of pets into families. There should be more access for “pet-children,” not less, or so the argument goes.

Current laws can be confusing. Some establishments, such as many hardware stores, welcome dogs. Others do not. California health regulations prohibit animals at food facilities, which include restaurants, grocery stores and farmers markets. But under a new state law, authored by Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada that takes effect in January, dogs will be allowed on the outdoor patios of restaurants as long as the animals are leashed and well-behaved. The Democrat’s district includes Rohnert Park, the Sonoma Valley and Lake County.

Rick Mohar, assistant manager at Pacific Market in Santa Rosa, said it can be a challenge for staff to keep everyone happy in the current environment. He cited the example of one woman who comes into the market on a regular basis with her small dog, which she claims is a service animal. Mohar said staff members don’t buy it. But he said they are reluctant to push the issue.

“Rather than make a big scene, we let her walk around the store with it,” Mohar said.

He described other customers who carry dogs inside their purses, or who put dogs in shopping carts, as if the animals were small children.

“There’s a fine line there,” Mohar said. “You want to keep everybody happy.”

Disgruntlement appears to be building over the practice, however. An online invitation for Press Democrat readers to weigh in on the subject drew dozens of responses, with the vast majority condemning what they believe is a culture of pets gone wild.

“I have dogs, love dogs and would never ever take one of their smelly butts in a grocery store. Or anywhere that had food for sale,” a post by ‘Water Bear’ stated. “If it is an actual service dog, fine. But the people that bring a badly behaved dog everywhere they go, claiming it is an emotional support animal, are just being selfish. Leave them at home!”

The Americans With Disabilities Act mandates that leashed or harnessed service dogs be allowed into businesses and other facilities open to the public. Dog owners can be asked what tasks the dog performs but nothing about the nature of their disability. According to the law, dogs “whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support” do not qualify as service animals to be permitted entrance.

Some pet owners are more concerned with the emotional or physical health of the animals, and cite that as justification for bringing the animals into places that technically are off-limits.

On a recent Thursday morning, Mike Verlander of Santa Rosa walked his two small dogs - Roameo and Suzy - the length of Santa Rosa Plaza while he waited for an appointment at the Apple store. Verlander said one of the dogs suffers from separation anxiety.

“They go wherever I go,” he said.

Verlander said he assumed it was OK to bring the dogs inside the mall because it is a “public place.”

Holly Harrison, a manager at Teavana, said she sees people walking their dogs “constantly” at the mall. But she said she’s not bothered by the practice.

“I honestly love dogs, so I don’t mind it,” she said.

Kim Hall, a spokeswoman for Simon Properties, which owns Santa Rosa Plaza, said in a statement that pets are not permitted in the mall, with the exception of service animals trained to assist persons with disabilities.

On the same morning Verlander walked his two pooches in the mall, Bonnie Bergin toured the Plaza with students from Bergin University of Canine Studies and the Assistance Dog Institute in Rohnert Park. Joining the group were a half-dozen service dogs in training.

Bergin, who is widely credited with being the first person to build on the concept of the guide dog for blind people, lamented the number of people who attempt to pass their pets off as service animals. At the same time, she said, access to public places shouldn’t be limited to professionally trained dogs.

“In Europe, dogs are allowed a lot of places,” she said.

Bergin made the case that the focus should be on the animal’s behavior.

“No dog, fake or not fake, should be allowed in public if its behavior is problematic,” she wrote in an email.

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and Sutter Hospital in Santa Rosa allow dogs inside the facilities for pet therapy purposes, in addition to service animals.

Sutter’s “Dog Visitation Policy,” which was revised in May, states that dogs must be bathed 24 hours prior to arriving at the hospital, and visits must be “brief enough that feeding and excretion activities need not be addressed.”

A manager at Home Depot in Santa Rosa who declined to give his name said the store only allows service dogs. But another employee described the policy as being much more lax, saying staff only cares whether dogs are aggressive and that their owners clean up any messes.

“I see dogs in here all the time,” the employee said.

Lowe’s in Cotati allows dogs on leashes, according to an employee there, as do Friedman’s Home Improvement stores.

But Barry Friedman, president and CEO of Friedman’s, said dog owners who are letting their pets run off-leash in the stores are causing him to re-consider the policy.

“I’ve personally been involved in a couple of incidents where I’ve asked people to leash their dogs and they didn’t want to listen to me,” he said. “From that standpoint, I don’t know if it’s worth having the dogs, if that’s how people are going to treat our policy.”

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.