Santa Monica Dog Beach Proposal Dead in the Water
Despite city council efforts to move the proposed dog beach pilot program forward, state officials say it's not going to happen.
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Despite a 6-1 Santa Monica City Council vote to explore a pilot program for a dog beach in the city, representatives of California State Parks say there's no chance that the program will move forward, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Heal the Bay had already expressed health concerns about fecal bacteria from dogs in the water.
In a Nov. 14 memo to the Santa Monica City Council by Community and Cultural Services Director Barbara Stanchfield expressed some of the concerns that had been brought up in discussions with representatives from California State Parks, which included:
...the risk to threatened species, such as the snowy plover, and to sensitive ecosystems, the possible threat to the safety of visitors, wildlife, other dogs, interference or displacement of recreational users, and health issues related to dog feces and dog urine in the water and sand.
(Read the full memo in the PDF attachment to the right of this article).
Click here to read more about this issue in the Los Angeles Times article.
Seyd Saba
12:04 pm on Sunday, December 11, 2011
It's a shame that SM doesn't have a dog beach...there are miles of empty beaches and yet we don't have an area for all these dogs to run around and have fun..WHY?
We need to overrule this decision and ensure our dogs have a place to have fun...they deserve it!