It’s a dog’s life

IN the new eagerness to jump on what appears to be a customer-friendly policy -- allowing, even welcoming, pets into stores -- business owners may be making it impossible for people with asthma or severe allergies to shop in those places (“The Shopper Has a New Best Friend,” by Janet Eastman, Jan. 25).

To people with allergic sensitivities to dogs, dander (minute pieces of skin and hair) and saliva are a potent poison. Thorough cleaning of floors and lower parts of furniture alleviates, but does not eliminate, the problem. Dander seems to have a way of “sticking.”

It was only a short number of years ago that I stopped asking restaurants and stores if they were smoke-free. Must I now start asking whether they are allergen-free?

Lloyd Botway

Hollywood