With so many popular restaurants and pubs in Delaware offering dog-friendly patios (including Dogfish Head, the Rusty Rudder, Kelly’s Logan House, Catherine Rooney’s, Piccolina Toscana, Crabby Dick’s and the Deer Park Tavern, to name just a few), the Delaware Division of Public Health’s August reminder that non-service dogs are not allowed in restaurants — including in designated outdoor areas where the rule had long been unenforced — hit a bit of a nerve:
On Aug. 30, Speaker of the House Rep. Peter C. Schwartzkopf, along with 17 other sponsors and co-sponsors from the Assembly, introduced HB 275, legislation that would override the DDHS’s “no dogs” regulation, permitting the owners of beer gardens and restaurants to obtain a license for an outdoor patio that allows leashed dogs.
The hearing will take place within the next two weeks.
