Almost 800 years later, those dogs on the other side of the pond that bark with an accent are about to get their own Magna Carte. Following in the footsteps of San Francisco’s groundbreaking “No-Water-Dish-Left-Behind” legislation, the U.K.’s Animal Welfare Bill introduces a duty on owners to ensure the welfare of animals in their care.

Blowhards like Newsweek columnist George Will (who wears a bow tie and therefore probably owns a cat) complain that government should keep its nose out of animal abuse. He even complains that San Francisco, where an estimated 110,000 dogs outnumber the children, is “especially punctilious about codifying animal entitlements”. We are not sure what all those fancy words mean, but our guess is it is how a pompous jackass might say ‘too dog friendly.’

We think it is impossible to be too dog friendly or punctilious about codifying animal entitlements. Upon review of the Animal Welfare Bill we don’t think it goes far enough in ensuring dogs have full access to pubs and restaurants. Like the next stop on our tour of dog friendly bars – Elixir Bar on 16th at Guerrero.

The bowl of water in the front doorway it a great sign that Elixir is truly a fine watering hole for the canine crowd. There is a bucket of treats by the front door that are FREE and people can just reach in and grab a handful and give them to their favorite Rhodesian Ridgeback mix who is waiting very patiently at their feet. That’s right, FREE treats. There are also free pretzels which are good, but not as tasty as those multi-colored biscuits by the door.

The crowd and bartender at Elixir are also very dog friendly. There is lots of space to roam around and nobody stressed out when we explored the place and went behind the bar. Some drunk Israeli even provided a free canine massage – ‘free’ except you had to listen to his stories about his 10-pound ankle biter who was too vicious to take to the bar and the 300-pound English Mastiffs he grew up with. Right, 300-pounds, have another drink. All in all, a great place for dogs and a solid 3.5 St. Bernards.

By contributing SFists Stan and Bailey