Dogs in pubs

Molly the border collie has charmed the patrons of the Rose Hotel in Cleveland Street, Chippendale for some time now.

Owned by the pub manager, George Kanellos, the ever-enthusiastic Molly with her shaggy brown and white coat is happy to keep fetching beer coasters or chasing runaway pool balls until the pub closes.

Like many pubs in Sydney’s inner city, the Rose is dog friendly for friendly dogs – but Kanellos said fighters should stay at home. “Dogs are allowed throughout the pub, but we try not to have fighting breeds in here,” he says. “As long as no-one’s getting attacked, I think we can get away with it”.

One night recently a large white bull terrier wandered amiably through tables of contestants competing in a trivia night at the Rose, occasionally looking up at the trivia master as though he might answer a question. No-one was bothered by him.

The pub’s clients like the open-door dog policy, and their Twitter feeds illustrate their affection, with lots of tweets of dogs in pub pics.

“When I stopped bringing her in, people were saying: ‘where’s Molly, where’s Molly?’” Kanellos laughs.

For our part, Spencer & Servi agents and staff own a squad of dogs, including director David Servi’s two border collies, and videographer Matthew Minnett’s two bull terriers. The Spencer & Servi office in Crown Street, Surry Hills is, of course, dog-friendly to friendly dogs.

Chippendale and Surry Hills are in the City of Sydney, which officially notes there is a state government law, the Companion Animals Act, regarding dogs in public premises. “Under the Companion Animals Act 1998, dogs are generally not allowed within 10 metres of food preparation/consumption areas, however they can enter outdoor dining areas under certain circumstances”.

A City of Sydney spokesperson said the council had never issued any penalties regarding dogs in pubs. “The City of Sydney promotes the benefits of owning dogs (and pets) and aims to ensure that pets and people live together harmoniously”, she said in a statement.

In the inner west, though, it’s a different story. Although rangers from the new and expanded Inner West Council haven’t yet issued any penalties to dog-owners who take their dogs into pub, in suburbs like Balmain there have been warnings of penalties to come.

A number of Balmain pubs welcomed dogs for years, but last year’s threats of $600 penalties have seemingly put the freeze on the whole idea, seriously annoying dog-owners.

An Inner West Council spokeswoman denied the Council was taking punitive measures against dog-owners.

“It is not correct to say that Inner West Council ‘cracking down on dogs in pubs’”, she said. “Council is responding to, and then investigating, each complaint we receive. Inner West Council, and Leichhardt Council before that, regularly receives complaints from the public about dogs in pubs”.

The relevant penalties were set by the state government, she added, and the Inner West Council had not issued any fines. Still, the threats have worked and now pubs like the Dry Dock ban dogs inside the establishment, which is a shame, but dog-owning pub-goers can always head into the City of Sydney council area, where dogs are a little more welcome in pubs.