Animal Control in Retail Food Establishments

[Sam Boone]

Nicole,

Regretfully, I witnessed another violation of a non-service animal being allowed into the South Mason Walmart store this afternoon. It was maybe a pug with a couple who passed the Walmart employee in the entryway observing customers as they entered. While shopping in the food isles, the pug was sniffing items on the lower shelf as the couple moved along.

Nicole, I am not "hunting" for violations. The instances are so prevalent anymore, the odds are in favor of witnessing one anytime I visit a store.

Sincerely,

Dave Boone

[Sam Boone]

Thank you, Nicole, for your thoughtful reply. I can only surmise with the large number of retail food establishments and the limited number of personnel in your department, that you are spread as thin as can be and would need to focus on the larger establishments. I encourage your efforts to improve compliance with the regulations and appreciate your endeavors to maintain the public's health.

I would rather not be a nagging pain in the neck but I will continue to contact you of any apparent violations I witness. I hope the occurrences steadily decline.

Thank you, again,

Dave

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 9:44 AM Nicole Aguilar <agui...@co.larimer.co.us> wrote:

Good morning Mr. Boone,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We are continually working with our establishments, particularly large retail stores, to educate them on this matter. It can be difficult to regulate as we usually find out about the incidence after the fact. Service animals are not required to be visually identified with a vest or a marking of any kind. An operation is permitted to ask two very specific questions in relation to an animal accompanying a person in a facility when it is not clear what service the animal provides. 

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?

2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

I understand that in the instance you witnessed the employee did nothing. We will follow up with the store manager at this location.

Thank you 

	Nicole Aguilar Supervisory Environmental Health Specialist - Consumer Protection Programs
	Department of Health and Environment 1525 Blue Spruce Dr., Fort Collins, 80524 W: (970) 498-6782 | M: (970) 646-2433 nagu...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org