The Chamber of Commerce organizes many events in our town, the largest ones being the fall and spring art fairs. When they announce events in the paper they always close with, “Please leave your dogs at home.”

Unfortunately, too many people don’t heed that sage advice and bring their four-legged creatures to the fairs. I was part of a food vendor in the fair, and we saw a lot of dogs. Big ones who stick their snout where it should not be, to the little ones who hamper the ability of seniors (and others) to get about. At the spring fair our booth witnessed many such events. There are two that stand out.

One of our volunteers was asked for water for his dog. He took the water to a nearby eating area and slowly poured the water on the back of the dog. Within seconds of being cooled off the dog began to shake the water off its back, throwing droplets of dirty water onto many people eating their lunch. The man and the dog walked away.

Another one took place on Sunday afternoon. A lady walked to our order table, which had food items on display, picked up her small dog and put all four paws on the table. I walked up and said to the lady, “Please remove your dog from the table.” She replied while returning her money to her purse, “I will take my business elsewhere.” I replied, “Please do so, thank you.”

I realize the chamber can’t really enforce a “no dog” policy, unless the entire perimeter is fenced off. Only trained service animals should be allowed. The arrogance and entitlement of some animal owners is overwhelming.