TAMPA, Fla. — A popular dog bar in Tampa is being forced to shut down, and the owner says despite a long legal battle, he’s had to accept the fact that he has to close Pups Pub.
He says it’s due to a reversal in the Department of Health’s guidelines for where dogs can, and can’t be, in a bar.
Pups Pub hosted its farewell party on Saturday. At the bar, there’s a large outdoor area for the pups to play, and then inside, a bar for their humans to enjoy.
“It’s really been such a huge community,” customer Diana Dore said.
She says she and her dogs, Bulleit and Butcher, have been going to Pups Pub since they were puppies, and lovingly refers to it as “home.”
“I’ve made friends here, Bulleit has made friends here, it’s a great magical place,” Dore said.
They have a lot of memories at the business — their picture is even on the wall, so when Dore heard that Pups Pub is being forced to close, she was devastated, and so were other members, like Eric Vizinas, who’s been bringing his dog for the last three years.
“I’ve made friends here. I’ve been coming here for three years, so I’ve gotten to know the dogs. I’ve gotten to know the people and the fact we all are now scrambling for a new place to go is awful,” he said.
The closure is not because of any wrongdoing, but because of a change in interpretation by the state’s Department of Health of its rule pertaining to dogs in bars, and after a two year long battle, an appellate court recently ruled in favor of the state, saying dogs are not permitted inside.
“It’s just so messed up, it’s incredibly messed up and it’s not what I expect from my lawmakers, I expect my lawmakers to look out for us, the little people, right our small business owners,” Dore said.
With Pups Pub closing, Dore says they’re losing a piece of their heart with this place that means so much to all of them.
The owner of Pups Pub says he’s put everything he has into building Pups Pub and this is a devastating loss.
He also reached out to lawmakers, and hoped for a special dog bar code to be written, similar to the rules for cigar bars. However, that has not come to fruition.