Collateral damage
The current wave of panic sweeping the world has had many unintended consequences.
Sadly Penny has become a victim of the madness.
I wrote last January about Penny and her love of the coffee shop. Every time I brought her to the village she would demand a visit. It didn’t matter where I parked she unerringly tried to head in the right direction, like a homing pigeon with a perfect compass.
The routine was always the same. As I drew near to the shop she would march ahead and shoot in the gate, around to the door and then in to greet everyone. She would receive her fistful of chicken and then politely go back out to reserve a table for me.
That has changed.
I noticed the change the first day I visited after the shops reopened. There was the same excitement – she drew ahead of me, shot in the gate and marched up to the door which happened to be open. But she slammed on her brakes and refused to go in. The staff all saw this and proffered her her chicken treat. No. That didn’t work. She flatly refused to cross the threshold. They had to come out to feed her.
It has been the same each subsequent visit. She’ll charge up to the door but that’s it. Nothing on earth, not even a feed of chicken will entice her to enter. We pondered this little conundrum. Nothing had changed so why was she behaving this way? Then it struck us…
Disinfectant!
They had been liberally spraying the stuff all around as per instructions from The Powers That Be, and there was a distinct aroma in the shop. Penny obviously prefers good fresh air.
Those bastards have a lot to answer for.
Well tough: a small price to pay for not ending up in intensive care.
So intensive care awaits me at every turn? I'll take my chances and actually live.
Given that Ireland Republic has declared a climate emergency, I find this incompatible with allowing pets to be kept at all.
But I assume that declaration must have been an aberration, for who could claim that pets should not be kept to protect a planet in a state of such crisis. It must have been intended to signal virtue rather than a policy response scientifically adjusted for humans to be actual humans with inter-reactions with other life forms. In which case your point is well made Monsieur Grandpapa.
Oh dear, if the smell is that strong it would aggravate allergies and lung complaints.
It's not that strong. It was the staff who mentioned the possibility.
If Penny sensed something wrong then she won't go in. Strange though since I specifically recall a recent post of yours about the first visit to the cafe after it first reopened and she didn't have a problem then. Perhaps the staff have been disinfecting more often?