Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton Karen and Ronnie Roach, and their goldendoodle, Bentley, are among a group of local dog owners intent on broadening the city's pet-friendly areas, including parks, outdoor restaurant seating and the Walnut Street bridge.
Dogs aren't allowed on the Walnut Street Bridge or in Chattanooga's other premier parks -- Coolidge, Ross's Landing and the Tennessee Riverpark.
But they can come to eat with their masters at the Blue Plate and several other restaurants downtown.
The city that has been blasted by dog lovers as being not-so-dog-friendly now has a number of restaurants that are ahead of the Tennessee General Assembly, which this week passed a bill authorizing municipalities with populations of at least 100,000 to allow restaurants to admit pet dogs into outdoor dining areas.
In part that's because of dog owners such as Karen and Ronnie Roach, whose golden retriever, Bentley, is a therapy dog that is welcomed into intensive care unit hospital rooms but not onto the Riverwalk.
"I'm so turned off to our antiquated rules and laws in Chattanooga," Ms. Roach said. "I don't understand how other cities all have all their parks open to dogs, but we cannot."
Rhonda Seeber, communications manager for the Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Department, said parks officials have been watching the bill progress through the Legislature. She said she is working with Ms. Roach, other downtown residents and dog owners on a committee to help educate dog owners and the public and, perhaps, get some of the now-restricted areas reopened to pets.
"I know that's a big, angry issue," Ms. Seeber said of the city's restrictions.
She also said the group is working on a brochure to help pet owners know where pet-friendly restaurants and parks are located. She said volunteers began calling this week to see which restaurants would like to be listed in the brochure.
Parks Administrator Larry Zehnder said city officials recently had a survey done by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga about pets in parks and public areas.
"They talked with 6,000 people, and 50 percent want dogs to be able to go where people go, and another 50 percent said no," Mr. Zehnder said.
DOGS WELCOME
Chattanooga restaurants at which dogs are welcome in outdoor dining areas:
* Blue Plate
* Big River Grille
* Hair of the Dog
* The Ice Cream Show
* 212 Market
* Stone Cup
* MudPie
* Terra Nostra
* Greenlife Grocery
* Food Works
* Aretha Frankensteins
* Pisa Pizza
* Clumpies Ice Cream
* Quiznos
* Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Source: Chattanooga Parks and Recreation
