There are few stores in the neighborhood more deserving of their name than The Animal House, the popular pet store at 157 Fillmore St. When we stopped by the other day to chat with owner Megan Johnson, the place was abuzz with pets, their owners, neighborhood kids and an overabundance of doggie treats.
The corner of Waller and Fillmore Street has been home to a pet store since the mid-eighties. Originally called Petporri, the shop was known as Healthwise For Pets when Johnson purchased it in 2007. (She changed the name to the current moniker.)
Johnson, who previously worked in the adventure travel industry and as an apprentice at Guide Dogs for the Blind, has an electric personality that's a perfect match for running this eclectic hub for animal lovers. We sat down with her to talk about her decision to work with animals, the rise in illegitimate "service dogs" in SF, and why the Bay Area is a unique place to be a pet owner.
Where are you from and how did you get here?
I was born in San Francisco, and was raised in Mill Valley and Sacramento. Do you mean, how did I get to this shop?
Yeah. Like, how did you end up here in life in general?
I went to high school in the Upper Haight, and fell in love with the city. I definitely knew I wanted to live in the city, rather than any suburb.
I also had a great love for dogs. I was training guide dogs at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, and decided that it was time for a change. Luckily, I ran into somebody who told me this shop was for sale, and within two weeks, I owned it.
And when was this?
In 2007.
Why do you love animals so much?
[Laughs.] The politically correct answer? They're easier for me to understand than humans. The probably not-politically-correct answer is that they don't talk back. Really, they are easier to be sympathetic towards.
If you had to choose between hanging out with only animals or only people, which would it be?
Can't I have both?
You can't.
OK ... well, let me tell you about my perfect Christmas last year. I was at my family's house, and I was able to invite my friends and they brought their dogs. I think there were ten people and eight dogs. That was, like, my perfect scenario.
A golden ratio?
Yeah, something like that. I love living in multi-dog households. I've been a master tenant before, and I required all people who lived there to have pets, because it's just so hard to find a place to live in the city for people who have pets. I'm pretty much an animal addict, and I've always wanted to have more around.
Did you ever run into any problems with that requirement?
No, I found that it was much better. When you have people who have animals, they really appreciate where they live more, because they know how much harder it is to find a place to live. You find much more responsible people who really appreciate where they are.
Do you think that people spoil their animals?
I hope so! Here's my whole theory about why animals have kind of become our children: I think a lot of it has to do with flea control. When Frontline and Advantage came along, it wasn't like when I grew up, with the flea bombs and the powder and stuff. You actually could have your dog sleep in your bed, without becoming covered in fleas.
There are also socio-economic reasons. As the whole change in the definition of marriage and children and what was expected of families changed, I think people were allowed to be more creative in that way. They looked to animals more as a simpler kind of companionship, and that also ties back to them not having to live in a bed of fleas.
Is San Francisco becoming less pet-friendly?
I don't think so. In the last census, they found that there were 115,000 dogs and 110,000 children in the city. Especially with all the tech people, some of those people make more money—but not everybody.
You look at the dog-walking industry and how that's become a boom ... having a pet has become a luxury. In order to have a dog, you basically have to work hard enough to make the money to have a walker, because you can't go home in the middle of the day, and people don't have yards. I think San Francisco is as pet-friendly as ever, if not more so.
The other thing that is a mixed bag for me is the whole service-dog tag thing. I used to train service dogs, and I know what was required of dogs that are guides for visually impaired people. It's a really intense training. So many dogs that are given service-dog status are aggressive, have no training, have never been screened. But if there weren't that kind of loophole, my business would have a tougher time.
What's the loophole?
If you can get a note from anybody, pretty much—your doctor, your therapist, your dentist—you can go to Animal Control and get your dog a tag that says 'service dog.' As far as San Francisco goes, it's illegal for a landlord to evict you as long as you have a service dog. Some of those service dogs are legit, and some aren't, but it's a way that people can have animals in a city where there are so many restrictions on places where you can live with animals.
I think [the program] is abused, but it's a catch-22, because so many people wouldn't be able to live anywhere if they didn't do it. However, I also think if housing for people with pets wasn't so restricted, then people wouldn't have to abuse it.
What can you tell about somebody from their pet?
I don't have any children; I have pets. I look upon training my pets as similar to training children. You wouldn't want an illiterate child, and I don't want a pet that's horribly misbehaved.
I very much believe that there's stuff that people can do, but I also believe that there's just the nature of animals and working around that. I think that some people maybe don't make sure their animals are behaving correctly, but I also personally have really high expectations of how people should care for their dogs. People should spoil their dogs.
What's on the horizon for the culture of dog ownership, and how does it relate to your business?
As for the culture, it's really different here in urban, liberal areas like the Bay Area, as opposed to, say, Concord, Martinez, or the Central Valley. There, dogs are rarely thought of as children, and many are not spayed or neutered. That's where most of the animal rescues in the area get their dogs from.
You can just see that there's definitely a different attitude toward animals there, whereas in San Francisco, they're obviously pretty spoiled. As far as my business here goes, it can be difficult, because it's such a popular business right now that there's a lot of competition. I'm just hoping that all the new developments allow for lots of animals!