Philly: Stop Tying Your Dog Up Outside Already

Dog via Shutterstock.com | Warning tag via the Don’t Leave Your Dog Tied Up Outside a Shop Facebook page

I’m one of those women – let’s call them insufferable women – who brings her little dog everywhere.

Murph comes to work with me, goes shopping with me, and occasionally hits up yoga with me. He’s a regular at my laundromat, and as soon as the weather warms up, he’ll reclaim his usual seat on the deck at Bridget Foy’s.

To the absolute horror of my mother, wedding invitations are frequently addressed to “Ms. Monica Weymouth and Murph.” (A joke, perhaps, but it’s not easy to find a plus-one when you own a stroller for your shih tzu.)

I do not, however, walk him over to Super Fresh or CVS, as these places don’t allow dogs — something about health codes and common sense or whatever — and the alternative is leaving him outside.

As we saw last week — and plenty of times before that — leaving dogs tied up outside stores makes them easy prey for dognappers. In the upsetting surveillance footage captured outside the Aramingo Avenue Rite Aid, a man scooped up a pit bull puppy and fled while the dog’s owner was inside.

I’ve been there. When I first adopted him, I thought nothing of leaving Murph outside while I ran errands. He had plenty of canine company on the sidewalk and, like every other recent grad with a dog in her purse paying entirely too much to live on Girard Avenue, I mistook Northern Liberties for Stars Hollow.

It was actually years until I stopped parking Murph at the bike rack. Not until a dog park friend pointed out the obvious: Leaving your pup tied to a pole is a remarkably stupid idea, even worse than putting rainbow highlights in his tail. (For the record, it was adorable and I regret nothing.)

I don’t actually think that Murph is in danger of being stolen. He’s missing a leg, he bites indiscriminately, he does his best to roll in every questionable puddle on trash day – he’s, well, let’s call him an acquired taste. Owners of larger dogs make similar claims: Go ahead and let someone try to steal my German Shepherd.

But even though dog-napping is a very real risk — the American Kennel Club reports that pet theft is on the rise – it’s far from your only worry when you tie Tinkerbell up outside Starbucks. (Not for nothing, Dunkin’ Donuts patrons are smarter than this. When was the last time you saw a Yorkie waiting on a Coolatta?)

When you anchor your dog to a street sign or tree, you leave him vulnerable to everything that Philadelphia has to offer. If an aggressive dog passes by, he won’t be able to properly defend himself. If something startles him, he’s in danger of slipping out of his collar and running off. If Miss Cherry Hill pops across the bridge, he’s stuck near the curb, at the mercy of her Jersey-bred parallel parking skills.

And then, of course, there’s the danger your dog presents.

While I firmly believe that it’s the responsibility of grown-ass adults to ask before petting a strange dog, children can’t be blamed for assuming it’s OK to approach an animal deemed safe enough to sit on the sidewalk. Even if your dog is usually kid-friendly, things change when he’s tangled in his leash and an eager little hand is coming in fast. Take it from someone who’s been there: Parents get pissed at even the tiniest of bite marks.

The solution here shouldn’t be hard. Unlike those who surrender their pets to overflowing animal shelters, people who bring their dogs on a walk to the grocery store generally want to do right by their dogs. It’s just a matter of educating owners about the risks.

Some dog-lovers do this by leaving little notes attached to the leashes of unattended pets. I’ve seen others ask around a store until they found the offending owner. Personally, I like to bury the message in a blog post about my unhealthy attachment to an aggressive gremlin.

The Philly Dog has even compiled a handy list of dog-friendly stores, restaurants and coffee shops that allow animals, making it easy to avoid last-resort, just-this-once tie-ups.

We could, I suppose, just find something more in life and start leaving our dogs home. But, as a woman who just swung by PetSmart for an Easter outfit, I can assure you that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

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