Great post on Paw Nation!

Last week, the New York Times "Complaint Box" column took on a thorny issue: Are dogs too welcome in the city's public spaces?

After seeing dogs cavorting around Banana Republic, the Gap, furniture stores and even grocery stores, Barbara Rosenblatt wrote that she's had enough. "Animals are joining the ranks of small, bored children who must accompany their grown-ups just about everyplace," she wrote. "Perhaps what it will take to keep animals out of stores is a few too many paw prints on the merchandise, or a deposit by a dog that mistook a rug for a sidewalk."

Erica Manfred fired back, arguing that her 11-pound mutt deserves to go where she goes. "Well, I'm into my second adolescence and I've become a rebellious old lady. I take Shadow wherever I go because he makes my life bearable, and I don't care what anyone thinks," she wrote.

Whether or not Manfred cares if she's annoying other patrons with her canine cutie, plenty of readers were worked up enough to get into the fray. In fact, the Times received more than 500 comments from readers on both sides of the debate. One reader complained about health violations of dogs sniffing, licking and even pooping in food-service stores.

Another was more irritated by dog owners than dogs themselves. "Dog owners are worse than smokers in their inflated sense of entitlement," the reader commented. "Because they think their dogs are 'cute,' you should excuse their rude behavior."

Not surprisingly, there were dissenters. One commenter argued that most dogs are better behaved than most kids. "I don't like listening to wailing babies and whining children or their parents hissing at them," one reader wrote. "Leave the kids at home, please, and bring the dogs on!"

Clearly, New Yorkers are sharpening their claws over this contentious issue. Which side of the debate do you stand on?

Great post on Paw Nation!