Man Confronts Woman Dining With Giant Dog in Restaurant—She Refuses to Leave

The internet has erupted into a heated debate (as the internet is wont to do) after a man shared his experience encountering a giant Tibetan Mastiff-type dog in a fast food restaurant. According to a post he made on Reddit the dog wasn’t a service dog, and the restaurant had a no-pets policy. Eventually, he felt irritated enough to confront the pet’s guardian — and it didn’t go over well.

“I had just gotten my food and left it on the table to refill my drink,” he explained on Reddit under the username SoCalGiraffe. “Upon returning, I noticed her dog’s hair floating on not only my table, but also one got on my fries.”

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He asked the woman to move or go outside, but she resisted, telling him that he was able to move himself if he didn’t like it. After a “few minutes” of arguing, he alerted an employee. “She was promptly asked to leave but not before calling me every name in the book and accusing me of hating animals,” he wrote.

After his friends were mixed on whether or not he responded appropriately, the patron took to the subreddit r/AmItheAsshole, a forum where users ask the internet to chime in on whether or not they were in the wrong during a tense situation. The general Reddit consensus is that SoCalGiraffe is not, in fact, the ***hole.

“These ‘take my dog everywhere I go’ people need to be stopped,” one user said. “You can love dogs and still recognize that it's a health and safety issue to have them in places like this,” another added. Another thanked the poster on behalf of all people with severe allergies and asthma.

On the other hand, some users pointed out that some dogs have a hard time being left alone — and SoCalGiraffe could have always moved himself, without starting an argument. It’s important to remember, too, that people aren’t obligated to display their dog as a service dog or show proof that they are registered (in fact, there is no official registry for service dogs). Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, staff can ask patrons whether their dog is a service dog and what services they are trained to perform, but it’s illegal to ask for proof, even in restaurants with no-pets-allowed policies. Given that people with invisible disabilities often face difficulties bringing their medically necessary service dogs into public spaces, confrontation isn’t always the best option.

According to SoCalGiraffe, he’s an enormous animal lover. His own dog was waiting in the car with the AC on while he ate — a fact that some Reddit users pointed out was dangerous (and, in some states, illegal). He conceded that he has some regrets about causing a scene — he just found the situation unsanitary. “The most hilarious part is I volunteer at two different animal rescues,” he replied to one commenter. “I absolutely love dogs, just not when their hair is on my food.”