Grande Prairie dog owners will be asked to leave their pets at home if they plan to visit Canadian Tire in the new year.
The recent decision to ban dogs from entering the department store will take effect for Grande Prairie’s pup starting January 1st, 2024. Joanna Goc, General Manager of Canadian Tire Grande Prairie, says the decision was a hard but necessary one after a series of “unpleasant accidents” occurred in the store.
“It’s just a combination of a lot of things,” she says. “Our post that we have displayed on the store it’s just due to lots of unpleasant accidents that we had to make that unfortunate decision.”
The store made the announcement on December 27th, citing “irresponsible” dog owners that have caused safety issues for customers, and Goc says as it stands, there is no discussion around repealing the ruling.
“At the moment there is no chance for it [to be repealed] no,” she says. “I have a dog myself and I love bringing her here, but that’s part of the business unfortunately, we have to make sure that every customer that comes in is safe and happy.”
“I want to apologize to everyone who feels bad about the decision, unfortunately, that decision was made and it was really hard.”
After the policy takes effect in January, all of the store’s doggy cleanup stations with waste bags and bins will be removed and service dogs will be the only exception to the rule.
