I'm with you. Dogs are NOT people, and when dog owners think they are, they place their dogs happiness above actual people. We had someone that brought in 1 dog, it was a Border Collie and it was peaceful and still a distraction. I'd immediately put in my 2 week notice if I had to put up with more than 1, no joke. I go to work to work not babysit, smell, or listen to barking dogs. Even if they were quiet just having something roaming around from desk to desk with those jingly dog collars that sound like eternal Christmas is annoying. Some people have no respect for silence anymore. It's bad enough many offices have an "open space" setting which disrupts thinking, pisses off and stresses employees, and lowers productivity, the last thing I need a bunch of dogs walking around, making noises, watching me eat my lunch, begging for food, needing to be let out, farting, smelling like dog pop after coming back in, smelling like wet dog after a rain, etc. Combine that with my distraction of cute things and I won't be able to get any work done.

Who is the company taking care of? Dogs or Humans? From all my unfortunate experience having to put up with my immediate neighbor's dogs, dogs in my neighborhood, and dogs at work, I've noticed a certain percentage of dog owners are the dog equivalent of a "crazy cat lady". They think "dogs are people", should have access to every place humans do, should bark all they want, and usually value a dog's happiness over the happiness of real human beings.

Yay! for workplace pet equality. Just like everything else work-related, dog lovers (I'm one) should not be disproportianately favored over gecko/spider/snake loving peeps.

Also, let the inter-species pet wars begin ... right in the darn office. I'll get the popcorn.

Well, do they?

Some people have rats as pets and carry them around. I fail to see the problem with that.

I think there's an important difference between starting from scratch this way, and trying to transition an existing, say, hundred person company from scratch to this policy.

Presumably at the interview it's pretty obvious what's going on, and people ought to be fairly self-filtering about this. Diversity is good, right? You ought to be matching the company to your needs anyhow.

Yeah, because passive aggressive people who do things out of spite are great in a workplace. Instead of bringing roaches as your pets or rage-quitting maybe you can take it up with HR first, or god forbid your coworkers, especially if the reason is allergies (you didn't specify)?

How about 20 feet python? I am sure it loves dogs... :-)

Do you dislike dogs? Are you allergic? I get that you are saying you don't want to work in an office with dogs and would find it unacceptable, but explaining why would be helpful!

Many people have a fear of dogs. I myself have an extreme fear of dogs. Most people have had experiences with dogs which amplifies that fear. Being chased till person falls and bruises themselves badly, or getting bit.

Plus animals aren't like humans, they don't use the restroom when they have to relieve themselves. They beg for food, stare at you when you are eating, make noises and smell.

Hey! Fancy rats are adorable in the office, especially if you have shoulder rats. You're just being ratist! :)