Pet owners will no longer be able to take their animals with them while food shopping, despite measures to ensure safety and hygiene, as the health authorities have started clamping down on supermarkets, warning it is illegal.

The sudden crackdown is expected to kick up a backlash from once contented customers who are accustomed to being accompanied by their pets, supermarket owners fear. 

Last week, they received surprise on-site visits and were informed that pets were no longer allowed, in accordance with the Food Safety Act of 2004 that “prevents domestic animals from having access to places where food is prepared, handled and stored”.

The supermarkets have, to date, allowed pets, either in specific trolleys  or carried in customers’ arms and in handbags, in their own carriers, or on a short leash, effectively excluding big dogs from entering.

Pama and Pavi deputy CEO Malcolm Camilleri said his supermarkets have had dedicated trolleys for pets, mainly dogs, for two years now, following pressure from customers to allow them in.

He was now expecting to face complaints and problems for having to reverse this policy.

“From the feeling we have, pets are like kids for their owners and they like to have them with them. They buy them clothes and even come with their own pushchairs,” Camilleri said.

Following on the model of Italy’s large Conad supermarket chain, he said Pama and Pavi each have six specific trolleys for easy shopping with pets and there were even times when these were not enough.

Between one and three pets were always seen in the stores at any given time, he noted.

“We are in favour of allowing pets if all necessary health precautions are taken as per regulations and they are not allowed next to the food,” Camilleri said.

Contradictory laws? 

But under sudden pressure to prohibit them, Camilleri said that he explained their position to the authorities, insisting that while pets have been allowed in the supermarkets for the last four years, they could never run around the shop floor and could not be left unattended.

The law is the law and we will have to follow it

The supermarkets would be fined if they did not abide by the regulations, he said, adding that he was told restaurants would be next and that the old law which was being revived contradicted a recent law that allowed pets in public spaces.

Customers were quoting this latest law, he said, when told they could not bring their pets.

“For now, we cannot stop this,” Camilleri continued, expecting the authorities to first make it public after the creation of a “false perception that pets are allowed anywhere”.

Wellbee’s Supermarket CEO, Jonathan Shaw, confirmed the chain was also “given the heads-up” about the illegality last week.

It had always adopted a “sensible approach, in keeping with customers’ lifestyle of combining walking the dog with food shopping, while bearing in mind and valuing that others did not like to see animals on the shop floor”.

“We have always tried to strike a middle ground, allowing small dogs that could be carried, or kept in check on a short leash,” Shaw said.

They were never allowed in the shopping carts, where food is placed, he said, adding supermarkets were mostly about packaged food and not its direct preparation and exposure.

“But, with this enforcement out of the blue, we do not want patrons to think supermarkets have an issue with this,” Shaw highlighted.

Wellbee’s Supermarkets have notices saying pets are allowed if they can be carried, meaning no big dogs are allowed, but they have now been informed these signs were illegal.

“The law is the law and we will have to follow it,” Shaw said, adding that other countries gave shop owners the flexibility to decide.

From the psychological point of view, he acknowledged that pet owners “humanised” and adored their animals and would not accept being told they could not bring them in.

“I understand the dynamics of the pet-owner relationship and we will have to face that issue because some may decide not to go where their pets are not allowed. The legal notice is black and white and does not go into the merits of this.

“We will need to explain to them that this is not coming from our end,” he pointed out.

Joseph Sammut, managing director at Greens Supermarket, said it had introduced the special boxes on trolleys for pets some months ago, meaning animals did not touch food.

“Our customers were very happy; their pets came dressed up and it has been like a show, while others never complained and enjoyed seeing them too,” he said.

Following the warning to stop this, Sammut said these would now have to be removed and Greens supermarkets would adopt a wait-and-see approach, in the hope that the ‘old’ law would be changed, and the practice continued.

“If pets are left running around in supermarkets... I would agree with it but, as things stand, the law should be revised,” he said.