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08/16/2005 Archived Entry: "Cafe caters to dogs and people -- why can't it happen here?"

IN SEOUL, KOREA, THERE'S A CAFE THAT SERVES DOGS. And no, I don't mean sauteed or fricaseed. The Bau House Cafe welcomes humans and their pets -- and boasts of 15 resident dogs of its own!

Now, judging by the noise level in the NPR report (there's both a print story and an audio story behind the above link), I'm not sure that even Dedicated Dog Lover I would want to eat there. But the report reminded me that even in some places that we think of as much less free (and S. Korea is no libertarian paradise), people often have more little everyday freedoms than we do.

Dogs in a U.S. restaurant? The Health Nazis would have a cow! But as long as the food prep and service is sanitary, why not -- if that's what the restaurant owner and patrons like? I'm told that well-behaved dogs are welcome at restaurants all over Europe, and you don't hear about plagues of distemper or roundworm decimating the human diners. The decision to allow animals into a business -- or not -- should belong to private parties. Ditto smoking, alcohol, bare feet, etc. It just ain't the gummint's business. How many little, hardly noticeable ways our lives are regulated ...

Posted by Claire @ 12:08 PM CST
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