Service horses are remarkable animals and in many aspects they’re preferable to dogs. To start with, they tend to live 3 to 4x longer than dogs, and their field of vision is more than double.
Dogs in space
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I had a horse when I was little, as did my mum amazing animals <3 they just cost as much as a mortgage nowadays between stabling, feeding and everything else that goes around them - best I could do for Sabrina was a dog and I would have preferred a cat but dog it had to be for her needs >.<
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Personally if dogs are not allowed, kids should not either. They can be loud and unpredictable, but understand that some parents might not like this due to babysitting costs same way dog sitting is available only to some with the funds.
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I can take antihistamines for the horses so I am the other way!
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Let’s keep horses and humans to another thread and separate discussion as the arguments for and against are quite disparate.
im all for dogs at the space. the spaces that I’ve hung out at over the years have been welcoming of them and its been far less dangerous than the picture painted above. and i too agree kids would be simialrly risky and/or irritating. some are wonderul some are not. case by case basis and common sense would probably be best course of action.
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Both groups as in the pro and against pooches cant physically be at the space 24/7 surely there is an opportunity for those who want and don’t want dogs to come on different days/times? This way everyone gets to share the space and every member retains equal rights to access, including those that “have” to bring their dogs irrespective of their reasoning and for those to whom a dog is not in their mind welcome. Leave it then to the techs in each of their space to make a rational judgement call based on facts and add it to the H&S on how safe/unsafe their area is to be inclusive or exclusive.
This way we can all be happy and still use the space.
If we are taking it to a vote, I dont think a binary choice is fully suitable. @petra to me suggests a more balanced and nuanced approach where you should speak to the people in the space and ask what they are comfortable with at the time. Something like:
It is the responsibility of the owner to make it clear that anyone can remove their consent/approval at any time without fear of reprisal. Any “my precious pooch can do no wrong” attitudes must be checked at the door! 
And equally it is the responsibility of the other people to say when they are comfortable and when they are not such that people can bring their dogs without fear of unknowingly upsetting someone.
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@nhjansen, is there any specific reason you’re choosing to raise this as an issue now?
I’m all for solving our problems. I’m not for saying that something could be a problem and especially not for jumping to “rules are needed to solve this potential problem”. I don’t think we should be deciding to implement rules based on potential problems. We’ve said this many times recently, on topics from cleaning to shutter access etiquette, and it shouldn’t be different now.
FWIW, I think it’s on a dog owner to check that they can bring their dog into the space before they enter. But that’s a code of conduct thing, not a rule thing.
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There’s a members meeting next week. Seems like a good time to mention it.
I suggest dogs on lead. Which removes the whole jumping thing.
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Rather than thinking about this topic based on emotional attachments or experiences of one’s own dog, this should be looked at from a risk management perspective.
Suppose someone brings an adorable Jack Russell puppy to the space - who would say no to that. Then a child who is also in the space tugs on its ears (children are unpredictable) and the puppy bites off the child’s fingers. It could happen. It’s a foreseeable risk that’s been allowed and the space would be legally liable for that personal injury. We do not have the competence to make an assessment of which dogs are safe and which are not. Taking the owner’s assurances is not a sound risk management approach. Sure, we could ban children from the space for the sake of dog owners, but that dog could still bite off an adult’s finger. What if there is more than one dog in the space and they start fighting- that can happen. Someone tries to separate them and gets bitten, losing their thumb. A dog, even a small dog, can cause a serious injury. There is a foreseeable risk if we allow just any dog in the space.
With a registered guide dog, there is a competent independent assurance of the dog’s behaviour. Those dogs are trained to have their ears tugged, tails trodden on etc. With an assistance dog in training, there is also a possibility of also having a competent independent assessment from the trainer whether that dog can be considered safe to have in a working area such as we have.
There is a legal obligation to ensure safety for those in the space. It’s not simply a matter of voting on what members want. We need to manage things properly, complying with those obligations. Without a suitable competent independent assurance that the dog would be safe to have in the space, we wouldn’t be meeting that obligation.
A compromise might be to allow a dog in the clean room only if on a lead and with a muzzle, with the owner looking after it at all times, with the dog to be kept at least 2m from the kitchen area, electronics bench and any potentially dangerous equipment - with the doggie area marked out on the floor. I can’t really see that being a good solution though. It also doesn’t address issue if someone has an allergy unless the dog is in a space suit also.
If someone needs to bring their dog because there isn’t anyone else to look after them, then perhaps figure out having a doggie area outside or organising taking turns looking after the dogs - take them to the park over the road. It would seem a much better way.
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