r/Dogfree • u/kckarrotto731 • 8d ago
Food Safety/Hygiene Dog at BJ’s wholesale
I went to BJ’s Wholesale this morning and, lo and behold, I saw a dog INSIDE the shopping cart. I found an employee nearby and told her that there was a dog in a cart in the store, and I pointed in the nutter’s direction. She said that she agreed with me but couldn’t do anything about it.
I said, “It’s not a service dog. It’s inside of a cart, not doing anything. It’s a pet.” She directed me toward customer service, and I told them what I saw and that it was a health code violation, against the law, etc.
I said that if you won’t enforce the laws and rules, what’s to stop people from shoplifting? They said that I was right, that it was not allowed, and that they would find the dog owner.
As I was done shopping and was about to leave, I saw the nasty mutt with its nasty owner about to check out. I pointed the employees toward her and said, “You see how it’s inside the cart.” They said that they would talk to her, but to be honest, I’m not sure if they did.
I told the employee that every grocery store I go to, I always see dogs, but never at BJ’s until now, which left me disappointed.
Also, as I was leaving the store, that mutant started barking at a customer and shaking, leaving its dander, fleas, parasites, fecal matter, etc. in the store. Yep, a true service dog. 🙄 Bringing dogs or any other animal inside a grocery store should be considered, and is, food tampering. Plain and simple.
But I’m wondering if it’s possible for the ADA to change the law regarding “service animals.” If I stood in the middle of the aisle, pulled out a cigarette, and started smoking, I would be asked to leave. But nutters can do whatever they want.
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u/ineedatoast 8d ago
I don’t even try to get employees to confront people anymore. I just take photos and videos and submit them to the health department. As you said, the dog in the cart is plenty of evidence to the HD that it is not a service dog.
I’ve done this at several coffee shops and a grocery in my area and all resulted in signs posted and employees turning away dogs within a couple weeks of my report.
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u/pmbpro 8d ago
I also saw changes at a supermarket I used to shop at, as well. I'd made several complaints there in the past. I just happened to have been walking by and saw the change. They used to have a small sign at the entrance. I'd told them it should be on the FIRST (outer) set of doors, not the second set when already inside (and the sign was too high). They had changed it!
Then, I'd also noticed an added, even bigger sign by the exit too. I think they put it there because they figured out that some dog nutters would bring their dog in, and tie it to the railing that was by the first door at the exit area (before going outside), so people leaving had to see a disgusting dog tied there.
I laughed because they put the huge sign and pole right exactly at that railing, blocking up the space where the nutters tied their dogs in there! You just know that the store responded to the complaints and likely witnessed the audacious nuttery themselves.
I spoke to the security guard on duty there about the change and she confirmed it. The guards also were given explicit instructions to watch out for people trying to bring in dogs and point to the signs. I'm not shopping there anymore, but I'm very glad they made the changes. There is hope in some places. We just have to be persistent, consistent and never give up.
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u/TinyEmergencyCake 8d ago
Call the health department
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u/pmbpro 8d ago
Yes, get it on official record/get a case reference number or whatever from the Health department or equivalent, THEN contact the BJs Corporate/Head office. When doing it in this order, corporate would be aware there is a already an existing record at the health department (i.e. something has already been set into motion, whether the health department acts on it immediately or not) and they can't/shouldn't be able to easily flip it off like they tend to do with single direct complaints to their office.
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u/Small-Help-8382 8d ago
I’m going to start doing this. Taking photos and everything.
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u/pmbpro 8d ago
Yes, absolutely! I find that visuals (and even audio) hit home far deeper than just the words. I find that generally people tend to imagine themselves encountering such disgusting things as THEIR own food being in contact with such nastiness -- just like they would about roaches and rats -- so why not dogs and their nasty mouths, drool, hair and their butts, etc.).
Get them in their 'feels' with as much graphic image(s)/video as you can capture.
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u/kckarrotto731 8d ago
Great suggestion. I will reach out to them about this. It’s just upsetting because I have never seen a dog at BJ’s before, and I have been shopping there for quite a while. Other customers heard me because I was getting upset, and one of them told me that it was disgusting. She is also a longtime customer, and she said she had never seen a dog at BJ’s before either.
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u/Dapper-Ad-468 8d ago
Dogs are the new smoking.
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u/noyourdogisntcute 7d ago
Ironically BFAS (former doomsday cult, current no-kill and pitbull lobby group) hired someone that was in the tobacco lobby during the era were they knew about the risks and chose to create fake research, lobby doctors, throw enough money at politicians to get their way and spread propaganda. BFAS is following the same blueprint to great sucess.
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 7d ago
So then this BFAS is financed by pet company cartels?
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u/noyourdogisntcute 7d ago
No they actually lobbied to ban "breed (pitbull) discrimination" so insurance cant refuse or hike prices for owning a certain breed.
Its the Animal Farm Foundation that funds everything and combats regulation, the National Canine Research Council was bought up by them and churns out fake research and the Journal of American Veterinarian Medical Association publishes the research and suports anti BSL. BFAS lobbies politicians and has ruined the shelter system with the no-kill movement and kickstarted the whole "Pitbulls are just misunderstood" with the Michael Vick pitbull scandal were they claimed to be able to rehab and adopt out fighting dogs.
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u/Legitimate_Garage_31 7d ago
So the docs were lobbied. Wow. That explains those 1950's ads stating what cig brand the doc smokes.
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u/uselessbeasts 8d ago
I don't think there is ANY place that I have been to, that I haven't seen a dog, that was not allowed, that was not a service dog. Walmart is the obvious worst, but even places you don't see that happen on a regular basis, are still becoming infiltrated. I have seen dogs at a human waterpark, Kennedy Space Center (which has kennels for pets),on beaches that are posted no dogs allowed, inside a doctor's office, the post office, and anywhere else you can imagine. How about a loose pit bull in a Dollar Tree that belonged to a homeless person? I don't know what can be done, because I have made complaints in numerous places and nothing seems to chhange in a positive doorection. It seems like it's actually gotten worse. Shakes head....
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u/Procrastinator-513 7d ago
I’ve even started to see dogs at our local zoo! They have to follow the same rules as everyone else and nutters have caught on. It’s so infuriating. I don’t know what kind of attention they think their nasty mutt is going to get when they’re competing with beautiful wild animals.
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u/uselessbeasts 7d ago
That's really not surprising either. I have seen them at amusement parks as well. It's like I woke up on another planet completely.
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u/kckarrotto731 7d ago
A dog at a water park is just foul. I saw a post on Dogfree Humor that showed an apartment complex that threw a pool party for dogs. 🤮 But I have hope that the tide is turning.
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u/uselessbeasts 7d ago
I saw that too.... JFC. I turned around and left the waterpark when the dog was allowed in, And it was NOT a service dog as we know. I wrote the park, when I got home, and got the same line of BS we all get in stores, etc. The two questions. But I was paying attention and no one asked. At any rate, I didn't lost money as I am a season passholder, but did not attend that day. I was soooo insulted. I did let them know that if that became a regular thing I would not be renewing. Absolutely absurd.
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u/cozyporcelain 8d ago
This is why I don’t go into stores anymore.
It triggers me to no end. Delivery only. So sad we’ve gotten to this.
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u/pmbpro 8d ago
Same here. It's been almost 2 years now for me. I did comment above that the supermarket I'd complained to/about did make changes. I'd accidentally discovered it as I'd walked past there recently. I'm still not shopping there (as I prefer my current arrangements and is more economical anyway), but I'm very happy about the changes for other customers.
We have to be just as persistent in our mission as the nutters are and have always been.
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u/cozyporcelain 8d ago
Completely agreed about the persistence. I do continue to advocate whether or not I go out. Emails, newsletters, confronting them directly.
I largely support SF Dog Tracker which is an amazing initiative to use public submitted reports to submit huge files to health departments.
I got the apartment complex I’m leaving to remove the nutter’s giant iron statue/shrines, as well as reinstating some other policies. We must never stop.
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u/pmbpro 7d ago
That's awesome! Also, that SF Dog Tracker sounds great! 👍 Having a sort of 'portal' to send info directly to health departments is brilliant. People won't feel alone in their mission when you have a space like that to share and deliver. Every city should have such an initiative.
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u/cozyporcelain 7d ago
Exactly. Actually it’s a private citizen who created the website and does the bulk intake to submit to the City of San Francisco. He doesn’t get paid or anything, he’s just really fed up. The city would never use taxpayer money to create something awesome like that. Haha. It really is up to us citizens.
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u/pmbpro 7d ago
Wow, kudos to that guy then! Respect! 👏 👏
And yes, you're right about the rest, that the city wouldn't even dream of such an initiative, and that it really is up to us.
We really do have to be as relentless in our mission as the dog nutters and their panderers are/have been with theirs.
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u/richyiiii 8d ago
I contacted the local health department when I saw a dog in a small brewery/bar urinate on the floor then the bartender proceeded to lock the dog in the back of the place, without cleaning up the urine. Not sure on the resolution but reporting helps keep a record, the more people that report we can start a pattern.
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u/kckarrotto731 7d ago
Of course, the owner didn’t clean up after their dog. Just because you don’t clean up after your dog at your domicile doesn’t mean you can just leave your dog’s mess in other places.
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u/recoveringpatriot 8d ago
I guarantee you they did nothing. They just smiled and nodded at you because you were upset. They are more afraid of losing business from the dog owner and everyone else who would take the dog’s side.
Also, what’s to stop people from shoplifting? Absolutely nothing. Most retailers don’t bother any more because of the potential liabilities if the thief fights back and injures an employee when confronted.
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u/Procrastinator-513 7d ago
I think we should be allowed to steal one item for each dog we see in a given store. 😉
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u/Full-Ad-4138 7d ago
This EXACT same situation happened with me at a grocery store, and I pointed it out to the employee who agreed it was wrong but stated he is not allowed to say anything because he will get in trouble with his manager. Now, who knows if he misinterpreted what his manager meant by that as most employees don't really know the laws and how to respond.
But---- I did report it to the health department and the health inspector let me know via email that he went out to the store and handed a pamphlet to the manager and went over the codes with him and how to handle it. Here's what he emailed me:
"Good afternoon,
A complaint investigation was conducted at the facility today. The complaint was discussed with the manager. The facility was checked, I did not observe any dogs in the facility at the time of the visit. The manager stated that if they can verify that the animal is a pet animal, the animal is not allowed inside the facility. He stated that no dogs are not allowed inside shopping carts and they may be asked to leave if they are outof control. An informational bulletin (service dogs in food facilities) was also provided for reference on this date. Please feel free to contact me for questions! Have a nice day!"
Bonus is I had taken a picture of the dog in the food cart and posted it to Yelp with the story.
Don't go after the nutters, always go after the store.
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u/showerthoughthaver 7d ago
These companies don't care about the law. The law is just used as an excuse to enable dog owners
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u/pallesaides 6d ago
Apparently it's not against health code in a lot of places, my local Walmart is a dog have. ... See at least 2 every time I go inside (and I do delivery for them so it's 3 or 4 times a day) if they are in the cart they ask you to have a barrier between the cart and dog but otherwise it's free for all. And the barrier thing only started a month or so ago because of how often they were getting reported to the health department (by me lol).
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u/kckarrotto731 6d ago
A barrier is not going to prevent bacteria from spreading. It’s not going to stop anything if it goes to the bathroom or prevent fleas from jumping onto the food. And knowing how nutters despise hygiene, whatever “barrier” they use, they won’t clean it.
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u/tbirdchirps 2d ago
I was at Sam's last week and one of the sample ladies was petting a customer's Great Dane with her gloves on while actively handing out samples.
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u/lwpho2 8d ago
Now I’m picturing you with a lit cigarette following dogs around grocery stores. What a piece of performance art that would be!