Pets without borders is a private initiative. For the past 4 years, I have been a proud owner of my lovely Doggy (yes that's his name).
I am originally from the UK but have lived most of my life in Switzerland, where dogs are allowed in a large number of restaurants and shops.
I now spend more time in the UK for private reasons and find that for a nation of animal lovers the situation is less welcoming, with pets not often being allowed in restaurants and sometimes owners and their pets being lucky if they can eat outside in the garden areas. Travel to the UK with pets is relatively easy with a car, with Eurotunnel and the ferries, although costly supplements are added for pet owners. However without a car it is almost impossible, as unlike the rest of Europe, the UK does not allow small pets to travel by plane into the UK with their owners due to out-dated legislation, the Eurostar does not allow pets (although the majority of UK and European train-lines do), and ferries usually do not allow foot passengers to take pets with them.
This means that pet owners are often presented with difficult choices between having a full and rich life, and leaving their companions at home, with the inconvenience and cost of that. Just remember the situation for children, it was only from 1995 that children under the age of 14 were allowed in pubs, now many pubs rely on the family market.
There are around 11million dogs in the UK, and approximately 25% of adults are dog owners. With difficult economic times ahead, tapping into this important market sector could be critical for many businesses.
Through this site, I would like to raise awareness of the barriers for pet owners, and improve access of pets and their owners to public places, It is also important to facilitate transport to and from the UK for pets. I would like to share success stories of pet-friendly places with pet-reticent business owners / managers to encourage change.
As pet lovers we must to understand that we are not alone, and we have to respect the needs of other members of the population such as those with allergies, or those people who afraid of dogs. We have to ensure that the behaviour of our pets is safe and acceptable to others.
I would love that there are other people that have the same feelings as me that would be willing to contribute to this mission. There are many ways to contribute such as sharing and liking content to your friends, or to relevant groups that you participate on, joining our facebook group to provide your input, contacting your local restaurants / coffee shops, hotels, writing to public bodies such as local councils / political representatives (MPs). Small successes on the local scale could result in large changes on the national level.
Thank you for reading our first blog post.
xx Claire & Doggy :. :.
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