Woman brings 2 dogs into Boon Keng coffee shop, operator to put up ‘No Pets Allowed’ signs
A Stomper raised hygiene concerns after seeing a woman bringing two dogs into the indoor seating area of a coffee shop in the Boon Keng area.
Stomper R said the incident happened at a McNair Road coffee shop at about 8.30am on Nov 7.
In a video shared with Stomp, a woman can be seen holding two dogs on leashes inside the coffee shop.
R, who moved out of the area some time ago, said the woman was a regular sight at the establishment and purportedly brought her dogs there on multiple occasions.
“She’s a dog groomer who lives at a nearby block,” said R, adding that the woman does the grooming in her own residence.
Stomp could not independently verify R’s claims on the woman’s job.
R, who said she had been waiting about 20 minutes for her food to be prepared, felt that bringing dogs into the indoor dining area was unhygienic.
When asked why she did not confront the woman or share her feedback with the employees during the time she was there, the Stomper said: “I go there occasionally, so at most I just don’t need to patronise the place again.”
However, R admitted that she “did not think” there were any signs prohibiting pets at the coffee shop.
Resident has differing view
Another resident of the block, who wanted to be known only as Irene, told Stomp that she had seen dogs in the area before.
She said she was not aware of any “No Pets Allowed” signs at the coffee shop and did not see an issue with dogs being there.
Irene added that the dogs she had seen were usually “very disciplined” and that the nearby pet grooming business was staffed by “young, responsible employees”.
Coffee shop to put up signs prohibiting pets
When Stomp visited the coffee shop on the morning of Nov 12, there were no visible signs prohibiting pets on the premises.
An employee, who declined to be named, said in response to the video that the woman had been ordering takeaway food rather than dining in. He added that pets were only allowed in the outdoor area.
A man who identified himself as the “person in charge” of the coffee shop later told Stomp over the phone that customers with pets “automatically” leave the animals outside before entering the premises.
The person in charge said the coffee shop was previously unaware of the incident and described it as the first time it had encountered such a situation in its three years of operation.
He recognised the woman in R’s video as a regular customer who is usually alone. “There are usually no dogs at all. She just comes alone (to order) takeaway and walks off,” he explained.
He acknowledged that there were currently no “No Pets Allowed” signs at the coffee shop, but said the establishment would put them up following the incident and out of consideration for other diners.
“If the ‘no pets’ sign is up and they still bring (pets) in, then I will report it to the National Environment Agency (NEA), as I have never encountered anyone bringing pets in before,” he explained.
The person in charge added that the shop had also encountered difficulties enforcing other rules, such as those against smoking and outside food.
“Sometimes, also very hard for us to earn a living,” he lamented about customers who ignored requests to comply, as employees do not want to cause confrontations or lose business.
“But we do an honest business,” he stressed.
He claimed that the shop had previously given feedback to NEA about smoking issues.
“Not only pets, smoking and outside (food) sometimes we approach, there are some good ones (who) will follow and respect, but once in a while, we’ll also meet arrogant (diners who) ignore us about this.”
As of Jan 1, 2025, retail food businesses intending to allow patrons to bring pets along for dine-in at outdoor refreshment areas (ORAs) — without serving pet food — are no longer required to seek approvals from the Singapore Food Agency.
This is with the exception of hawker centres, which are considered communal spaces, unlike privately managed ORAs.
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