Roy Imhoff

Doggie Downer or Shopper's Delight?

Last August, a dog urinated on a bushel of corn at the Morning Glory farm stand at the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market.

Last August, a dog urinated on a bushel of corn at the Morning Glory farm stand at the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market. And if that wasn’t bad enough, another dog devoured two loaves of zucchini bread before he could be restrained. Then there were the dog fights and older shoppers, tripping over leashes.

Things are different now. “No Dogs Allowed in Farmer’s Market.” The sign was posted a month ago and the consensus is that shopping for arugula and cilantro has never been easier.

But not everyone is happy about it.

On the first day of July, Cat Soni, at the information booth for the Island Grown Initiative, tried her best to calm disgruntled owners. Still, after reading the sign, the owner of a pit-bull mix appeared distraught. “But Jackpot’s very social,” he explained. A woman in a Black Dog T-shirt nodded sympathetically.

Another dog owner petted his mixed-breed and lamented, “Dakota was really looking forward to being here.”

An owner of a labradoodle turned to his wife and sighed, “Oh, let’s go.” No arugula for them.

Lisa Fisher, at the Stannard Farms, however, was optimistic. “I love dogs,” she said, “But it’s a wise decision. The traffic flows more smoothly now. It’s so much more peaceful. And the dogs never bought anything anyway.”

A parking lot attendant observed that most people are growing used to the new ban. “But still,” he says, “There are a mouthful of whys.”

In the parking lot, a chorus of howling and barking dogs, banished to their SUVs, were longing for the good old days.

Ted Sutton lives in Newton and Aquinnah.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/14/2017 - 08:05

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Mr. B Chilmark

Everyone in our family fully supports this decision on the part of the Farmer's Market; we only wish that it could have been implemented years ago.

Islander too

Me, too.
The dogs were getting in the way.
Basically the farmers' market is an outdoor grocery store.
Except the groceries are far more "exposed" than in a standard grocery store.
Where, obviously, dogs are not allowed.
They are not allowed in any food area.
Such as the coffee shops on the SSA ferries.
So it is sensible and consistent to make the Farmers' market dog-free.

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