‘I’m a dog mum, I should be allowed to take my fur baby on the bus’

Sticky toddlers are allowed to wreak havoc on public transport, so why can’t my well-behaved dog get on the bus?

Mary and her dog Frank

OPINION

If children are allowed on public transport, my dog should be too! There, I said it. Hear me woof!

I know it is a spicy comparison, but I think it just shows how ridiculous it is that dogs aren’t allowed on public transport but your annoying child is.

Frank looking gorgeous and well-behaved enough to get a bus.

As someone who doesn’t drive, I spend most of my life on a bus or train, and I’ve seen it all! Kids falling out of prams, kids knocking things over, mums crying because their child is having a tantrum, once I witnessed a child throw up, and I have no issue with it!

Kids are messy, life is messy and being on public transport means you’ll mingle with the public. If you can’t hack it, then get an Uber, babe.

Imagine how much better the movie Speed would have been if dogs were featured.

I’m not anti-children, but I’m annoyed they are allowed to be passenger princesses, and my dog isn’t. Why isn’t my dog allowed on the bus as well? I promise he isn’t as snotty or sticky as the toddler. Sure, he might bark, but he also doesn’t burst into tears. I’ll say it. He is a very good boy.

Before you start yelling, I’m not suggesting that children shouldn’t be on public transport. Of course, they should, but I find it unfair that my dog isn’t allowed when in reality, he’d be a much more polite passenger.

There are plenty of people he’d be more polite than. The people that loudly talk on their phones, the people that sit on the outside seat and then make you climb over them to get to the window seat like complete psychopaths. The people that get on drunk and talk so loudly that even your headphones can’t drown them out. Seriously, there are much worse people you could be sitting next to than my gorgeous dog.

Frank showing how perfectly he would sit on a train or bus.

I think a big concern is that the dog will sh*t, and then complete drama will erupt, but firstly my dog is toilet trained, and secondly, I’ve been on trains where kids have sh*t, and no one is giving them a lifetime ban.

If your issue is barking, I’ve sat next to plenty of men loudly talking into their phones, and I can confidently say my dog’s barks are much less annoying.

If you want to make the argument that dogs smell, well as someone that has often sat next to tradies after they’ve spent the whole day working hard and sweating, I’d very much argue that people smell all the time too. We just have to live with it, but in my dogs defence he is bathed in a very fun lavender dog shampoo.

Frank looking like the perfect seat-mate for a bus trip

Frank looking cute enough to get on a train.

As someone that doesn’t have my licence, I’m lucky to live within walking distance of my nearest vet but I feel like plenty of pet parents would benefit from being able to hustle their dog onto a bus to get them medical care.

When my dog and I need to go further afield, I have friends and a boyfriend with a licence, and we can get around, but it would be so much easier if we could pop on a bus and end up at a new and exciting dog park.

The world is still very much set up for the nuclear family. You know, Mum, Dad and 2.5 kids, but the reality is fewer women are choosing to have children now, and plenty of them are investing in fur babies instead.

Why should public transport only be for people with human babies? My fur baby is arguably cuter and less likely to scream his lungs out. I’d rather sit next to a dog than a child any day of the day.