Willow Glen Resident
News
Doggone it: shoppers say Safeway is lax about pooches in its WG store
By Alicia Upano
Willow Glen is a dog-loving neighborhood, but not everyone wants to see pooches in the produce section of their local grocery store.
Willow Glen resident Suzanne Cistulli, the director of infection control at O'Connor Hospital, was shopping at the Safeway on Hamilton Avenue last summer when she first noticed another shopper with two dachshunds in her shopping cart.
"It's dirty," Cistulli said. "To think that you're putting your food into a cart, it's like putting your food on your plate after your dog sat on it."
Cistulli complained twice to the grocery store with little response, she said. She finally submitted a complaint to the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health in March.
According to the California health and safety code, no live animals are allowed within 20 feet of any area where food is stored or held for sale, said Richard Fuchs, director for the department's consumer protection division.
For example, dogs are not allowed inside the food area of the farmers market in neighboring Campbell. Likewise, pets are not allowed in grocery stores.
Yet Fuchs and Safeway's director of public affairs Jennifer Webber agree it's a complicated issue.
Webber said the grocery chain does have a no-pet policy, but it also must also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which allows people with sensory disabilities to bring service animals into the store. Patrons need only to identify the animal as a service animal rather than a pet.
"Not all disabilities are visible to the eye," said Webber, who was not familiar with Cistulli's specific complaint. "If that customer identifies those animals as service animals and they're not disruptive, we have to accommodate them under ADA."
Cistulli's complaint is being investigated, and the health department will discuss the issue with Safeway management if animals are discovered in the store that appear not to meet ADA regulations.
Along with the health issue, Cistulli said the dogs disrupted other customers when they barked. When she complained, Cistulli said store employees told her dogs are common visitors to the Hamilton Avenue store.
"PetSmart is one thing, but the grocery store is another," Cistulli said.
