EXCLUSIVE: For years, Shellie Holmes’ world has been getting smaller.

It started when cafes and pubs started letting dogs in, followed by hair salons, offices and even a handful of major retailers.

Now Virgin has announced it will allow pets select flights from October and Holmes is terrified it will spell the end of her travels because of her crippling dog phobia.

The Perth local suffers from cynophobia, the uncontrollable and irrational fear of dogs and other canines.

Though less common than something like arachnophobia (fear of spiders), it can be more debilitating because sufferers are exposed to dogs so often in daily life.

And it’s only getting worse for people like Holmes as more Australian businesses and businesses adopt dog-friendly policies.

“It’s expanding to the point where I’m like, will I be able to leave my house? Will they be taking dogs into Woolworths?” she told 9news.com.au.

“I shouldn’t have to avoid hairdressers and coffee shops and pubs, but if it gets the point where it’s universal, I won’t be able to go anywhere.”

Living in fear of ‘man’s best friend’

Holmes has suffered from cynophobia since childhood.

She crosses the road to avoid dogs and just being in the same room as one makes her anxious and distressed.

When dogs have approached her in the past, she’s had panic attacks or shut down entirely out of pure terror.

“I’ve seen her chased by a dog that just wanted to say hello to her, and she will scream and run away,” Holmes’ husband Matt Huey told 9news.

“She’s been trapped in lifts with dogs, and she panics. It’s extreme.”

President of the Australian Association of Psychologists Sahra O’Doherty told 9news that cynophobia can be treated with exposure therapy but not cured.

“The aim of treatment is to reduce the intensity of our fear, reduce the frequency that we experience the fear, so we’re not experiencing it every waking moment,” she said.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM5), only 12 to 30 per cent of people with a specific phobia seek treatment.

For some, it’s a financial decision; treatment can take tens or even hundreds of psychologist sessions, which can cost hundreds of dollars a pop.

It’s a cost Holmes just can’t afford in a cost of living crisis.

So she does her best to avoid dogs, but that’s become harder than ever in Australia.

The rise of dog-friendly pubs, cafes, shops and planes

Almost half of all Aussie households have at least one pet dog according to Animal Medicines Australia’s Pets in Australia study, totalling more than 7.3 million canines.

That figure rose by more than 2 million in the last three years.

The number of businesses and venues that allow dogs in has also skyrocketed post-pandemic, likely in response to the spike in dog ownership.

A City of Perth spokesperson told 9news that individual cafés, pubs, and stores can choose whether to allow dogs on their premises, at the discretion of the business owner.

For millions of Aussies, it’s a dream come true.

For Holmes, it’s a waking nightmare.

“I can’t even go to the pub within five minutes walking distance from us … because there’s now dogs in there,” she said.

And the dogs themselves aren’t always the worst part – sometimes their owners are.

“People can’t differentiate between someone having a fear of dogs and someone disliking dogs, so as soon as Shelley shows fear the response is, ‘What’s her problem?'” Huey said.

Owners have allegedly berated Holmes, called her names, or followed her with their dog when she reacted fearfully to it.

Huey claimed some have become aggressive when he has asked them to move their dog to let Holmes pass in pubs or stores.

”What if I bring a pet tarantula or a pet snake to a cafe? Or a ferret? That’s not acceptable, so why is a dog?” she added.

Under the Western Australia Dog Act (1976), dogs in public places must remain on a leash unless in a designated off-leash area.

Owners also have a legal responsibility under the Act to control their dog in all areas, whether public or private.

But Huey and Holmes claimed these rules aren’t always followed.

“There was a time when you just didn’t take your dog into a cafe, a shop or into the Bunnings or into an enclosed place,” Huey said.

“People are getting to the point now where, in their minds, they have a right to take their dog anywhere.”

As much as Holmes would appreciate a return to the days when dogs weren’t allowed in public places, she knows that’s a fight she can’t win.

They’re proposing a legal mandate requiring owners in public places to move their dogs away from members of the public when asked.

“If you can open the doors to let everyone take their dogs into a public place, like Bunnings, there needs to be a counterbalance to that,” Huey said.

“If I say could you please move your dog away from me, there needs to be a legal obligation that you actually do that.”

Exceptions would be made for service dogs, which undergo extensive training and are subject to different rules to pet dogs.

Though their Change.org petition has gained some traction, Huey fears the overwhelming popularity of dogs as Aussie pets will prevent real change.

And it’s unlikely individual businesses will adjust their policies to protect the small number of Aussies living with cynophobia.

“The rate of all phobias globally is under 10 per cent of the population,” O’Doherty said.

“So if less than 10 per cent of a pub or cafe’s clientele are going to be experiencing this phobia, then most likely they won’t change anything.”