Score one for the dog owners!
This Friday, the State of Maryland approved a bill legalizing outdoor dining with dogs with nary a bark.
?The General Assembly’s House of Delegates approved the measure without discussion. The bill, formally called the Dining Out Growth Act of 2011, now moves to the Senate.
Maryland’s health department has also signed off on the bill.
Del. Dan K. Morhaim, the bill’s sponsor, touts it as something that would give a leg-up to the state’s restaurant industry, which has had a tough go of it in the recent economic downturn.
But pet lovers are hoping the bill would legalize what they’ve already been doing a lot of anyway — having a bite to eat al fresco with their dog.
Though dozens of Baltimore restaurants with outdoor areas already welcome dogs, hundreds more don’t because doing so violates state health code.
Another change to the bill that should please dog owners: the date it would now become effective has been pushed up to July. Originally it would have become law in October.
A step in the right direction. Chipping away at prejudice and ignorance.
Way to go!