Publix just issued a reminder about dogs in the grocery store. What to know about rules

Howard Cohen
·2 min read
166

Publix has put something new in its Florida supermarkets. But don’t search for it in the deli department or produce section.

The Lakeland-based grocery giant put up new signs at store entrances to remind customers that animals aren’t welcome inside — with one exception.

Service dogs are welcome. Others, including emotional support animals, aren’t.

“Trying to pass off a pet as a service animals is against the law in Florida and other states,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The Americans With Disabilities Act defines a service animal as a dog or miniature horse as animals “that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.”

Emotional support animals, which, according to Florida statute, “do not require training to do work, perform tasks, [or] provide assistance” don’t qualify as service animals, according to both the ADA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as the signs indicate.

Signs like this at a Publix supermarket in Lutz, a suburb 15 minutes north of Tampa, went up to in the summer of 2023 to remind customers that only service animals are allowed inside the stores. This means no more tiny pets in shopping carts or leashed family dogs cruising the aisles or emotional support animals. This is not a new Publix policy. Just a reinforcement.

One reason: hygiene issues — what can happen when untrained animals make contact with food in the supermarket.

Your canine may be cute, but the supermarkets don’t want your darling dog in a grocery cart, or anywhere else inside for “Cleanup in Aisle 3.”

Publix says this is not a new rule — just a visible reminder at the store entrance. The rules also are also posted on the Publix website under Animal Policy.

“We do have new signage in all stores, not just the South Florida area, but our policy remains the same,” Lindsey Willis, media relations manager for Publix, told the Miami Herald in an email.

The rules are posted on tall, green-and-white signs front and center at Florida’s 876 supermarkets, as well as the company’s 500 other locations in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia.

Shoppers and their dog on Jan. 3, 2017, at Publix on Biscayne Boulevard north of downtown Miami. Unless dogs are true service animals they are forbidden inside Publix supermarkets according to corporate policy. The rule includes not permitting emotional support animals inside stores.
Shoppers and their dog on Jan. 3, 2017, at Publix on Biscayne Boulevard north of downtown Miami. Unless dogs are true service animals they are forbidden inside Publix supermarkets according to corporate policy. The rule includes not permitting emotional support animals inside stores.

“Good on Publix for posting this sign,” wrote Erin Bush on Facebook. “Stop buying an ESA or Service Dog vest on Amazon to put on your yappy untrained dog to be able to take it in public places. Your yappy untrained dog makes it harder for a legit trained service dog to access the places they need to.”

ADA Law for Service Animals Training Video, a Facebook group, also applauded the signs, but added a suggestion.

“Thank you Publix, Florida, it’s a slow step in the right direction but unless you enforce this, the sign is just a sign.”

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