When you are a person who suffers from pet allergies, like me and as many as three in 10 other Americans, it feels as if the world has literally gone to the dogs.

Every place seems to be pet-friendly these days – airplane cabins, retail stores and even some restaurants with outdoor seating.

Though this is a welcome change for millions of pet owners, for the smaller percentage of people who suffer from pet allergies, life has become much more dangerous.

It is understandable that businesses want to accommodate customers or follow trends by allowing pets, but they should consider the medical needs of their human customers as well.

Hotels are a major danger to pet-allergy sufferers. Most hotels used to ban pets because of the extra cleaning needed after a pet stay or to avoid general wear and tear associated with pets. Then the industry found out it can just charge the extra cleaning fee to the pet owners.

It takes hard work to find pet-free hotels these days. Pet policies can range from full-on pet-friendly hotels that allow pets on every floor, to hotels that ban pets or limit them to certain floors.

Personally, I never understood the alternating floor policy. If there are pets in the building, the management should not try to book pet-allergy sufferers into rooms that might have been occupied by a pet when all their pet-friendly rooms are full, and still have pets in common areas.

There are a few hotels that still ban pets outright, but that leads to our next problem – the smugglers.

When people smuggle in pets, they are not only breaking the hotel rules, they also can cause serious health damage to someone who booked that hotel due to it being advertised as “pet free.” Pet-allergy symptoms can range from just an itchy nose all the way up to eyes swelling shut, severe asthma attacks or other medical maladies.

When I’m around pet fur or dander, my eyes swell, itch, water and tear.

My nose stuffs up almost instantly, and my throat gets itchy. At a certain point of exposure, I feel like I can’t breathe. I generally have to take allergy pills before any travel just in case there has been a pet in the room.

The biggest offenders when it comes to smuggling and general thoughtlessness are owners of miniature dogs.

Despite signs posted to the contrary, purse-toting owners of little dogs need to recognize that pet policies apply regardless of the size of the dog.

Whether it is allowing your pet to travel in the baggage department of an airplane, only booking in pet-friendly hotels, keeping pets out of rental cars that are rented on a “no pets” contract, or getting a pet sitter while out to shop at a pet-free store, common courtesy and responsible ownership can keep the pets, owners and allergy sufferers safe.

Michelle Stevens-Stanford is a writer who lives outside Charlotte.

Read or Share this story: