County Durham couple’s dog ordered to sit on street outside pub | UK News

A dog owner claims a Wetherspoons ‘jobsworth’ made his dog sit out alone on the street while he had a drink in the pub garden.

Jonathan and Anne Plautus said they were having an evening walk with their cockapoo when they were asked to leave the outdoors seating area.

According to Teeside Live, the couple were told the dog was not allowed inside the barricaded area and would have to sit three feet away on the street.

The pair had stopped at the Stanley Jefferson, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, with their pet Harley when the confrontation happened in the outside seating area.

The furious 52-year-old had to tie Harley to a nearby lamppost as a compromise for finishing their drinks.

Anne, 59, and Jonathan then had to watch as their four-legged friend was left wondering why he had been kicked out the pub despite being ‘quiet as a mouse’.

Jonathan, from Crook, County Durham, said: ‘It annoyed us because during that time people came out to have a smoke and they were swearing and flicking their fag ends on the path.

‘I thought “how can they do that and we can’t sit there and have a quiet pint.” We weren’t causing any trouble.

‘I understand some dogs might be aggressive and they might not want them in the pub but I think there should be a bit of leeway outside. Harley’s quiet as a mouse.

‘We’ve trained him well. We only wanted to have a quick drink because it was a nice evening. I know we can’t take dogs in Wetherspoons so we sat outside.

‘A girl came out and told us we’d have to go. It was rude the way she said it as if we weren’t very nice people. I thought she had a bit of an attitude. She told us why and we were surprised because there was hardly anybody else there.

‘She was being a jobsworth. That’s when I tied Harley to the lamp post. He looked lonely over there.

‘After I took the photo I did bring him back in to sit next to the chairs but that’s where I’d have had to leave him. It shows how silly the whole situation is. I think when it’s not packed with people there should be a different rule.’

Jonathan said he didn’t take the matter any further with pub management and won’t be bringing Harley with him if he returns in the future, despite posting about it on social media.

Since the post on Facebook, Wetherspoons has defended its policy on dogs.

Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: ‘Wetherspoons operates a no-dogs policy in all its pubs with the exception of assistance dogs which are welcome.

‘The policy applies both inside our pubs and in any outside area whether owned by the company or , as in this case, the local authority where we operate under a pavement licence.’

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