Pets inside SDC

[How-doFolks]

We have seen afew pets in the City at times, but what does everyone think about it? Will we end up with ferrets on leashes, or a 100+ pound bullmastiff walkin' around like a human? I dig all animals, but my personal opinion is that all animals should stay away. Its sweet to see alil' doggy havin' fun with the family, but we all know what happens when other people jump on the ol' chuck wagon.... I also know some pets need more medical attention than others, & i know City wouldnt let it get out'a hand.

Thoughts?

[mhguy77]

I have seen people with dogs years ago but I don't seem to see that anymore.
I wonder what the rules are concerning animals.

[Tony from Tulsa]

I don't know what SDC's policy is on this issue, but I think it would present a whole new liability problem. What if someone had a small dog with them and rode the flooded mine with said dog, then said dog freaked out, jumped and drowned for instance? Stranger things have happened. I love my pups, but we left them at home whilst we enjoyed the park.

[mhguy77]

I think the only animals allowed on rides should be those pocket Chihuahuas, you can tuck them in your shirt pocket before the loops of wildfire.  And if they fell out.....eehhh, its a Chihuahua ......

( I am gonna get strung us for that )

I wonder if PowderKeg has proper restraints for my 12 lb Jack Rat?.

[Joy]

Haha! Jim Stafford would agree with ya on that Chihuahua remark. LOL

I thought the only pets allowed in were service animals...

[History Buff]

Only service animals are now allowed.

It wasn't always like that.  I remember a time when we took our Shar Pei puppy (wrinkles and all) to the park.  We even went to the saloon show and he slept through the whole thing.  He became an attraction all his own, since no one has actually seen a Shar Pei in real life.

[betamike]

We used to take our family pet to the City all the time as well.  No one seemed to mind and all the pets that I remember being in the city were well behaved.

Parks that serve food and have high traffic areas restrict animals to the service animal category as HB said.  This is a theme park standard.  You won't see the City reversing this anytime soon....if EVER.

Mind you, there are at least nine types of service animals.  there are seizure dogs, comfort animals for those who have agoraphobia, dogs for the blind, and yes...there are seeing eye monkeys.  These are all protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Not much you can say or do about it.

Mind you, there is also something called an MR (Manufacturers Requirement) that all attractions have (Ride Law Legislation is my field at Disney).  Most of the time there are restrictions on service animals permitted or not on the rides.  Wildfire, for instance, is one of them I'm sure.  You will never see a dog on that ride or many others.

[History Buff]

Now I can't say I've ever seen a pet on a ride - I can't imagine that would be allowed even to the service animals.

[westofeight]

We used to take our little dog (Shih Tzu) when it was allowed, would never think of taking her on a ride though, she would have freaked. She loved and I mean LOVED walking the park with us though, it was funny one year we went to the Christmas Festival and stayed quite a while, she was alert, happy and just enjoying being there. When we got to the car and started to leave we realized she was literally 'dog tired' she was sitting between us and went right to sleep before we could even get out of the parking lot, I'll never forget that. One of those great memories.

[pintrader]

We were at the park about a month ago and saw a service dog with a little boy at the train depot.  This was the first time I could remember seeing an animal with someone at the park.  The dog appeared to be a comfort animal, maybe the boy had autism.  He was clearly not blind.  They were allowed to board the train with the dog thru the handicapped entrance on the other side of the depot.

[betamike]

Not uncommon at a lot of parks.  Service animals provide a wealth of comfort and assistance to people with severe conditions.  Just as those with oxygen tanks are allowed on certain rides, so are service animals.   I helped write several of our Disney attraction operating guides and I can tell you that these Companies take these ADA rights very serious. 

What you will also notice when animals ARE allowed on attractions is a code of conduct clause and a very specific location as to where they can or cannot sit...or even ride at all.  It differs from attraction to attraction.  Once they are out in the park though, things get a little more grey but I'm sure in today's skeptical culture these guests are hounded (no pun intended) by other guests who think they just snuck them in.  They usually have paperwork or a medical note of some kind.  Parks are usually even required by the ADA to provide rest spots for the animals to do their business. 

On a tangent, I remember taking our Boston Terrier with us back when SDC was one of the last parks to allow pets.  It was at Christmas and we were sitting at the nativity by the McHaffie Homestead on a hay bail.  Our dog was so quiet and blended in with our coats and layers to keep warm.   All of a sudden, someone sat in front of us with not the best hygiene and it was all we could do tomkeep the dog back and away from smelling this poor guy's butt.

I plan on bringing my dog on a road trip back home this December and one thing I do wish SDC had was a kennel of some kind.  I would imagine the care and themeing would be top notch!!!!   

[StaceySue]

Dollywood has Doggywood!

[betamike]

Could you imagine how cool it would be to have Silver Doggie City?

[KBCraig]

Before our last visit, I looked online, asked around, and called trying to find a dog daycare where we could park the varmints for the day while we were at SDC, then pick up to take back to the campground. No such luck. Because we couldn't find anything except full-time boarding, our daughter stayed home to take care of the dogs, and we had a shorter trip than we had originally planned.

This is definitely a business opportunity in the Branson area.

[History Buff]

Dad has to carry a letter with him for his "hearing" dog.  When they stayed at their condo in Branson, the condo people posted dozens of letters to their guests that a service animal was on property.  I assume that stopped a lot of people from "tattling" on the older couple who "snuck" a dog in.