WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Dog lovers who are looking forward to a night out drinking with their four-legged best friends are going to have more trouble doing so in Florida, thanks to a new appellate court ruling.
The judges backed the state Department of Health’s effort to stop a dog-friendly bar from allowing pups inside their two locations. The First District Court of Appeal rejected the claim by Pups Pub that the agency could only prevent dogs from being near the bar.
The lawsuit was filed after Pups Pub owners tried opening a second location in Orlando in 2022 and were told that live animals are not allowed in food service establishments.
When their first bar opened in Tampa two years earlier, health officials only required them to place a gate between the bar where drinks were prepared and the seating area where the dogs would hang out.
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After the Orlando location opened in July 2022, both it and the original Tampa spot were reinspected and found to be in violation of that restriction. The owners challenged the finding, saying they had been following an unadopted rule based on what they were originally told about installing the gate. The administrative law judge agreed with their arguments, leading to the appeal.
In their case, the owners contended that the Florida Department of Health regulations about live animals being barred from food service establishments would only apply to where the food and drink were prepared, in this case, at the bar itself. They argued the agency regulation did not extend to other parts, like the customer seating areas.
The appellate judges rejected that argument and said the rule and the statute behind it do not limit the Department of Health’s authority in this case, and the applicable law is clear in its prohibition. Therefore, the judges found, the lower court ruled incorrectly and the previous instructions by health officials were not an unadopted rule.
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