Berkeleyside contributing photographer Nancy Rubin happened to be sitting outside Peet’s on Fourth Street the other day when she saw a sign being affixed to a garbage can that read: “By order of Health and Human Services: No animals are allowed on Peet’s patio area. City of Berkeley.”
The wording certainly suggests the city is cracking down on four-legged friends keeping the company of their latte-loving owners. However a quick call to Berkeley’s public information officer reveals this is not a City of Berkeley sign. The give-aways? No municipal code is quoted, no logo, it’s not even the name of the department — but, interestingly, they did use the “Berkeley font”.
The sign is in fact a replacement for a previous one and was put there by Fourth Street management. The sign’s message only pertains to the enclosed patio area directly outside of Peet’s eastern doors where food and drink are consumed.
We can’t help wondering if that forlorn looking dog in the photo knows what’s coming.
Note: This story was updated to make a correction regarding the City of Berkeley font. We stated that the sign did not use the font (in the orange strip), although in fact it does.
