Pet-Friendly World - People UNfriendly?

[suebee]

Originally Posted by Medusa

Just curious:

Do folks who feel like bringing pets to public places is a hardship on folks with allergies also feel that perfume and cologne-wearers should leave their scents at home?

The reason I ask is because the lady at my job who complained about "bring a dog to work day" also has asked that everyone in my unit stop wearing perfume and cologne and also asked the campus building supervisor change out the "smelly" soap and air fresheners in all the bathrooms.

I have problems with airborn allergens; both allergies and sensitivities. Scents of any kind can trigger a migraine that effectively ends my day. It's not that I don't "get" it - I used to wear perfume myself. It's just a health thing. And as an aside, I don't have any kinds of scents in my house, because many of them (mostly the oil-based ones) can be lethal to birds - they can die within minutes!

I think the difference with the presence of animals is that most people have to actually touch the animal to be in contact with the dander before they have a reaction. So while I have great sympathy for allergies, I find a lot of people over-react. Maybe not all, but many.

Originally Posted by June

Cats are another thing though, I don't want anything that can and will get up and walk on my counters and tables. Ick. Sorry, I know we have a lot of cat lovers, but it squicks me out to have them on the counters, especially.

I totally agree. Our cats don't have many rules, but kitchen counters are OFF LIMITS!