“The stroller flipped over, and the dogs were jumping on it while the babies were trapped beneath.”

Sarah’s twins, who are now aged four, playing in a park. Source: Supplied

Since then, the sight of dogs in public has caused terror for the twins, now aged four.

“It’s made me quite anxious about being in public with my twins, in case we come across a dog.”

‘An obligation to work the dog’

“I don’t know how your dog is going to react. I don’t know how well that handler has trained that animal.”

Chris’s dog Lachie is able to go most public places as his assistance dog. Source: Supplied

‘They are just dogs’

He observes that Australia lacks the level of dog-friendly integration seen in places like Italy, limiting dog owners’ chances to acclimate their pets to various public settings.

He suggests that while not all dogs should be granted access to public areas, an obedience test could potentially be implemented to ensure dogs are well-behaved before being allowed in such spaces.

A pet-friendly public transport system

The researcher says there’s merit in referring to what other countries and jurisdictions (including Victoria, Australia, which allows small pets to travel on buses, trams and trains) have done to “make their public transport system more equitable”.

Anupam’s dogs sitting in the courtyard of her dog-friendly bar in Melbourne. Source: Supplied

Less restrictive legislation for pets?

She feels this is a shame, especially considering that in her experience, “most dogs behave a lot better than the humans at the bar”.

“If you’re going to be banning anyone based on their behaviour, you’d be banning the people.”

Sumi says her cat Zara is her “fur baby”. Source: Supplied

Sumi Mahendran, who is in the third of Australian households owning a cat (according to Animal Medicines Australia), is determined for her and her “baby” Zara to enjoy the same privileges as dogs and their owners.

Sumi says her life “revolves around” Zara, to the point of turning down overseas job opportunities, and hopes cats are soon more accepted in public spaces.

Sarah says she never would leave Leo the cat alone with her kids when they were babies. Source: Supplied

‘I’m not treating him as a human being’