I do not usually wade into controversial subjects. I am a sensitive soul, and my skin is not the thickest when readers write in to tell me I have gotten something wrong or said something they disagree with. Most weeks, I stay in safer territory where the feedback tends to be kind. Sports. Community features. Local history. Stories that do not require me to brace for impact.
But every so often, a subject comes along that hits very close to home, and I feel compelled to put caution aside.
As many of you may know, I have a dog named Loki. And, as a dog mom, I am unapologetically Loki-leaning. If I could, I’d bring him everywhere I go. I often do. So that is why Harbor Rail Pub owner Donna Heil’s post on Facebook caught my attention.
When I saw her asking Minnesota bars, pubs, and breweries how they felt about changing the law to allow dogs inside, I stopped scrolling. The comments were immediate and all over the map. Most were from community members and seemed supportive. Some responses had me scratching my head. A few were pretty funny. (Would the dogs have to be 21 in dog years?)
Heil felt the same way about the thread. She had been watching the comments roll in and was struck by the range of reactions.
“I really like hearing the positive comments and the negative comments,” she told me. “It has enlightened me about how misled people are. Or maybe that is just my opinion.”
When I mentioned that she must be a big dog lover, she agreed, but she was quick to point out that her motivation goes beyond the dogs themselves.
“I am a big people lover too,” she said. For her, this conversation started with the people who want to bring their dogs along, and with one dog in particular.
I had already met this dog. On a visit to the Harbor Rail, I was introduced to Molly, and it took about five seconds to understand why she has her own fan club. She is the kind of dog who becomes the life of the party without doing anything at all. The belle of the ball. She does not bark. She tucks herself onto her owner’s lap and minds her own business, and yet everyone knows she is there. Everyone wants to say hello. Everyone lights up a little when she stops by.
“She is loved by everyone,” Heil said. “Everybody else feels she is a positive force in the pub’s environment.”
But a few months ago, someone reported Molly’s presence to the health department. Heil and Molly’s owner both felt terrible. The regulars felt terrible. And Heil received a packet of ordinances reminding her that dogs are not allowed inside bars or restaurants in Minnesota.
Minnesota allows dogs on patios, but not inside. Not even the quiet ones. Not even the ones in carriers or strollers. Not even the ones who never leave their owner’s lap.
Heil could not make sense of it.
“I asked the health department inspector, what is up with that?” she said. “You have to allow service dogs in the room, but you cannot allow companion dogs. Under certain circumstances, it should be allowed.”
The inspector surprised her.
“She said that is a law you might be able to change,” Heil told me. “I kind of got a worm in my head about it.”
Heil’s medical background shapes how she sees some of the concerns raised in the comments, especially around allergies.
“I’ve been a nurse for 36 years in pediatrics,” she said. “There is no cat allergy or dog allergy that you need an EpiPen for. You’re just going to have the sniffles or itchy eyes, but it’s not going to kill you.”
She pointed out that people encounter pet dander everywhere, whether they realize it or not. I definitely realize it. Even with the best lint roller, I carry dog hair with me anywhere I travel.
“You could sit right next to somebody in a movie theater who has dog fur all over them,” she said. “If you’re that allergic, then you can’t go anywhere.”
She started digging into the issue after that conversation. Heil said she did some research, paying attention to how people travel with their pets and how other places handle it. She also learned that the original reasoning behind the law no longer fits modern life.
“The inspector told me that back in the day, most dogs were work animals,” Heil said. “They would bring in stuff on their feet from the farm. But that still does not make sense to me because wherever the dogs walked, the person has walked as well.”
Many of today’s dogs, she pointed out, are not farm animals. They are pets. They are companions. They are family members. Many do not shed. And many are better behaved than some patrons.
“If you misbehave or you pee on the floor, you have to leave,” she said. “Just like a person.”
Heil is not asking for a free for all. She is asking for rules, some of which she has thought through very thoroughly.
“There would have to be a rule about how many dogs at once can be in the bar,” she said. “A rule about whether they are in a carrier or on a six-foot leash. A rule that the owner has to have custody of them constantly. A rule that they cannot be on chairs or tables or bar tops. A rule that they cannot be behind the bar or in the kitchen. There is a plethora of rules that would have to be in place.”
She also noted that bars already have spill kits for accidents. They already manage behavior issues. They already handle service animals without incident.
“If service dogs do not poop in the middle of the floor, then I do not know why companion dogs would be any different,” she said.
Heil’s research also uncovered an economic angle. Hotels and short-term rentals have shifted toward pet-friendly policies because travelers bring their dogs with them. If a business does not allow dogs, those customers simply go elsewhere. It’s been shown that establishments that allow pets have customers who stay longer, spend more, and come back more often.
Her letter has already reached lawmakers. City councilor Todd Redmann, whose dog Molly was the one reported, shared it with legislators in St. Paul. Heil said the responses were positive.
“They both responded right away,” she said. “I love this. This is a great idea.”
She believes the issue is not political. She also believes the change would reflect how people live now.
“It would be a bipartisan thing. It is not a political situation. It is something everybody could get on board with,” she said. “Dog ownership took a huge spike during COVID. Lots of people have dogs even more now than before.”
Heil is not asking for dogs everywhere. She is asking for the option. She is asking for a law that trusts business owners to know their customers and manage their spaces. And trusting owners to know their dogs.
“If it does not work for a place, they do not have to do it,” she said. “But if it does work, why should it be illegal?”
As for Molly, she is still waiting for her chance to come inside. Loki is, too. And so are the many dogs who travel up the Shore with their owners, dogs who cannot safely wait in a car while their humans go inside for a meal or refreshments, and whose owners often choose to skip the stop altogether.
I’m not the only one who is Loki-leaning; plenty of us build our plans around the dogs we love. It’s the reality Heil keeps pointing to: the way people live with their pets has changed, even if the law hasn’t.
How does this sit… or stay… with you? Write to northshorejournal@gmail.com and let us know.
