Jerry Brown Signs Bill Allowing Dogs at Restaurants

The Sacramento Bee is barking good news for dog owners: If you live in California, you don’t need to bring a doggie bag home from the restaurant any more. You can simply bring your dog to the restaurant with you. That’s a gift from the legislature and Governor Jerry Brown, who signed Assembly Bill 1965, which allows owners to bring their pets to the outdoor sections of food establishments. 

There is one proviso: the dogs must be under control, and the restaurant owner as well as the city in which the restaurant exists must both give their permission.

The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, asserted that the current law that bars dogs from restaurant patios was not being enforced by different counties in uniform fashion. The law had existed to keep dogs away from the areas where the restaurants’ food was being prepared.

AB 1965 does not prevent businesses form barring dogs from their premises or hinder cities from passing regulations that bar dogs from restaurant patios.