KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A complaint at a Westport restaurant on Tuesday sent the Kansas City Health Department to check it out.
In the complaint, a person claims dogs were on the patio at McCoy's Public House and Brewery and one of the dogs peed, and the urine got on a person.
"We got it taken care of and the inspector decided there is no need for follow-up unless we receive another complaint on the same facility," Naser Jouhari with the health department said.
Many bars and restaurants in KC are dog-friendly.
But, animals on patios have been banned since 2005.
"It's a violation to the KCMO food code to have animals in food service area," Jouhari said.
That means if the server is bringing you your food and drink on a patio or table outside, no furry friends are allowed, except for service animals.
The health department says they don't go out hunting for dogs on patios, so it's a seemingly lax rule, and the issue doesn't come up unless they see an animal or get a complaint.
"We educate the operator, we tell them, 'Hey, we know that you don't know, so this is a warning,'" Jouhari said.
Any additional complaints after that would warrant re-inspections, which the establishment operator would pay a fee for.
All that could change.
"We think it's a long-time coming because we know that there are lots of people in Kansas City that love their dogs, love their friends, and they want to be able to socialize and recreate with everybody in a safe environment," Leib Dodell said, one of the people who could help adjust the city ordinance.
He is one of the developers of Bar K Dog Bar, set to open this summer at its new location at Berkeley Riverfront Park. It's a new concept for KC - a dog park, restaurant, bar, and groomer all in one.
It's a membership. A dog owner would have to provide proof of vaccination and show their dog is well-socialized. Staff members would supervise if you wanted to eat inside, where no animals are allowed.
"There's a patio adjacent to the building where we would like to be able to allow our guests to have their dogs on leash and enjoy a meal," Dodell said.
That's basically what many people do anyway, but Bar K is leading the way to make actual changes to the city code.
"We'll take it back to the council to see if we can revise to accommodate," Jouhari said. "It's a new trend."
Bar K already has 900 members at its Bar K Lab, the temporary location in the West Bottoms.
"We think we could have 2,000 members very quickly and grow from there," Dodell said.
Dodell said they've been very mindful about the city's policies and have conversations often.
"It's going well; the health department and all the Kansas City agencies have been very helpful and very enthusiastic about figuring out a way to make this work," said Dodell.
