disgusting things can happen in ANY home, pet or not, Does everyone who objects to Pets wear hair nets when they work on cakes? I am glad I dont sell any cakes, but back in the day when I used to baby-sit kids, I specifically remember one lady's house (no pets) who had the most disgusting kitchen I had ever seen...I used to put the baby's high chair tray in the bath tub to try and SOAK off the layers of dried on who knows what food....whats my point? My point is just merely asking someone if they have a pet, is not going to ensure that you are getting a cake (or anything for that matter) from a clean kitchen...or a clean home or that their flour hasnt sat too long and gotten wevills (sp) or that all the utensils were properly cleaned etc....

I for one know that even at the restaraunts I eat at things happen that I dont want to know about...even the fancy ones (I have heard stories)...but I prefer to be blissfully ignorant I guess, I am probably still going to buy cookies at the next bake sale (and NOT ASK who's kitchen they came from) and I fully expect to still be around after I eat them!

That said, Its another to each their own kind of thing....what you are not comfortable with you just shouldnt do....

Here in Ga. the state is pretty lax about the whole deal. I chose to build a separate building not connected to my home for multiple reasons, and one of the reasons was my pets and my wildlife rehabbing.

I clean my home constantly, but with 6 cats, 2 dogs, birds, 2 snakes, 1 rat (long story)... no way could I bake a cake for sale and not worry that someone would find a hair or something. Lets face it...fur floats around whether you can see it or not.

Sorry if this sounds gross, but I've always been a staunch realist.

So I have been reading all these threads about pets in a home based business...I am troubled. Indiana does not say anything in their laws about pets in the home where a home based business is . I looked over every piece of literature I have on the laws for my county ...I am relieved . 3 Months ago I had gotten my kids and my mother a 1 year old dog . I had read it was a great way to help kids with ADHD  calm  down and people with Alzheimer's to keep them company despite having 6 other people around these people become very depressed and lonely . A dog is a quiet comfort . As for me she completes the family . My small cake business is more of a way for me  to cope with caring for an Alzheimer's  mother , the loss of my beloved father.. And it is a little dream of mine that brings smiles to people around me . I find I do my best work when I am feeling down. The dog , the cakes , therapy ..... I let people know there is a dog on the premises and if they want I will show them where  and how their product is being prepared. They can look in my microwave , cabinets if they are so inclined . I have an air purifying system in my kitchen running continuously . and the counters and floors are swept and steam cleaned daily (2 times)I even vacuum out the oven . If people have a problem with pets where food is prepared maybe ,and as outlandish as this may sound , consider banning pet owners from going into places where food is prepared , they are dragging their pets fur and dander into these "sterile area's ". Before I had gotten the dog I have had cake clients come over covered in fur and leave fee fees fur on my chairs , do I not take their order because they have drug it into my home and potentially polluted the semi sterile baking environment .. Not! as if . I think its a common sense thing . regardless of pets or kids or whatever environmental issue there is , keep your work area as clean as you can . Do what you can to keep your product quality . I knew a cake lady who had a husband with a massive beard , shed like a yeti. poor guy was banned from his own kitchen .....

AI w or ride about this too but I spoke to my EHO who said as long as the pets are kept out of the kitchen when making/decorating the cakes & all surfaces etc are cleaned at the start then all okay.

I've worked in many restaurants for many years, and I may have pets, but I don't have cockroaches. And some of the food shops in my area are the filthiest places I have seen and are licensed by the Dept of Agriculture, same as small food preparers. 

One very popular restaurant in my area offers make-your-own-pasta night, where the chef makes your pasta to order. I watched as the chef wiped down the pan in between pastas with a white towel, threw it on the floor at his feet, and picked it up to wipe off the pan again. Yeech!! I told the owner when she asked if I were going to have the pasta special. 

Next time I went there - same thing. Pan-floor-pan. I haven't been back.
Nancy

A

Are you sure it was being thrown on the floor and not into the sanitary bucket underneath the counter? I know here, we're required to have a bucket with sanitary solution and a rag in it at every station for wiping between orders. So it may have looked like it was thrown onto the floor when it wasn't. I've had to actually pick up the bucket and show the customer before.

Yes, it was absolutely, 100% being thrown on the floor. I was ten feet away, on the side of the long table, so I could see his feet and the towel laying right next to them. I kept staring, to make sure I was seeing it right. I told the owner, she didn't seem all that concerned. People do crazy stuff, right?? 

Nancy

Call your county health department. In NY, complaints are taken very seriously. 

AWowsers, that's a big no-no! definitely report them to the health department! I bet there may be other things you just haven't seen yet that they may find...