B.C.’s only dog-friendly brew pub in Kelowna welcomes back dogs

Interior Health is going to let a Kelowna brew pub continue to have dogs in its taproom.

Unleashed Brewing Co. had been running a five-month trial with dogs being allowed inside. That ran out on Jan. 26, but Interior Health granted the pub an extension until Feb. 15 while it evaluated the project.

Unleashed owners launched a petition drive on Change.org right away and have collected more than 6,000 signatures. Whether that made a difference or not is hard to say.

“Interior Health has consulted with Ministry of Health Food Safety staff and determined that dogs will continue to be allow at Unleashed, with conditions to ensure the health and safety of patrons and staff,” Interior Health said in an email to iNFOnews.ca today, Feb. 2.

“Many of those conditions were already part of the initial agreement and we will work through the details with the owner in the days ahead. We expect this work will happen before the grace period is over, so dogs will be allowed moving forward with no gaps.”

Last week, Interior Health said in another email that there have been no complaints during the trial period.

“We are extremely happy to announce that dogs will continue to be welcome within our taproom!” the brewery posted on its Facebook page today. “If it wasn’t for your support, things may not have moved so quickly – for that, we are very grateful.”

Unleashed is the only pub in B.C. where dogs are allowed inside. It doesn't cook or serve food. It sells only prepackaged food items.

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