The Green Belt will be the next area made off-limit to dogs — or, should I say, to dog owners. This past Sunday, which offered a taste of spring, I walked my dog around Hannaford Cove. The other dogs we encountered were on leash and well behaved. The problem was all the piles of dog excrement other dog owners had left on the sides of the path on even on the path itself. That’s got to be a real stomach turner for pet-free walkers, bikers and skaters; it’s a stomach turner for responsible pet owners. Clearly, the problem in South Portland is not the dogs but their owners. We are privileged to have so many areas open to dogs—Willard Beach, Bug Light, Robinson Woods, Hinckley Park — but the rotten apples spoil it for everyone. Education is just part of the solution. Whey aren’t the laws and a schedule of fines handed out with every dog license? Leaving poop on the beach or sidewalk isn’t just gross — it’s a fineable offense! There should be signs posted stating that failure to clean up after your dog will cost you. Can we deputize civilians to help the overtaxed dog patrol officer? We’ve got to something to retrain the handful of bad apples, or ultimately all public spaces will be off limits to dogs.

Beach Waste,

Actually, if they set up an area where they regularly gave out tickets word would quickly spread and people would either avoid that stretch of road or they would pay more attention to their speed. Which I think is what would happen if some tickets were handed out at the beach. People who could not control their dogs would stop going or train them out of fear of being fined.

“would you let your dog defecate/pee in your kids sandbox”

No, but all my neighbors with cats seem to be able to get away with it. Let’s ban cats from roaming too! Can we get the police to work on that?

How about if we post a police officer on Westbrook Street every day from 2:45-3:15. If he could give tickets to all the people with complete disregard for the posted 15 MPH school zone and our children who are walking home from school, we would have enough money for a dog park (and to hire back the 5 who lost jobs) within a month.

Yo PrebleRebel, you might want to brush up on your math skills. Dog owners (including myself) have 15 hours on the beach daily. Dogs get 4, I can still go without my dog… Which I do.

Here’s a few helpful sites, Enjoy !

http://media.informe.org/lmf/projects/lmfguidelines.php      (dogs on leash at land for maines future)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-14-342825104_x.htm  (Dog bites 2 )

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2002-06-07-dog-usat.htm    (dog waste closes beaches)

http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/parkrules.html    (Maine state parks)

http://www.scarboroughbeachstatepark.com/    (Scarborough dog rules )

http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/doc/parks/more_info.pl?park_id=28    (Two Lights)

http://www.state.me.us/cgi-bin/doc/parks/find_one_name.pl?park_id=8  (Ferry beach)

http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/doc/parks/more_info.pl?park_id=4  ( Cresent Beach)

http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/doc/parks/more_info.pl?park_id=26  ( Sebago lake State park)

Paul B - Your comments and questions are irrelevant to this thread. Why not post them under a related topic. Posting the same gripes repeatedly makes for tedious reading and distracts from the most important issue at Willard - discrimination. Picnickers get 11 hours a day on the beach, dog owners only four. But what about those without a public voice who have been shouted and barked down by our two major, local political parties. That’s right I’m talking about non traditional pets. We must stand together and demand equal beach time.  Does anyone know if the domain http://www.sopoferretnewtchimpguineapigpetrocketal.com is available?

Wowie,
i would like to point out that i did not post a personal view about the referendum or dogs…simply that there are a lot of environmental issues on the beach and our parks, including the impact of the # of people and children using the resource and that pointing out dogs as the only issue is not fair. 
Dogs are actually allowed in some of our State Parks and beaches, each has a different set of rules… so the saying that dogs are not allowed is in fact false unless you point to a specific instance.  Bradbury Mountain State Park not only allows dogs, but also horses…and while OOB is not a State beach, dogs and horses are allowed there as well. I have seen people bringing out bags of dog feces, but I have as yet to see a horse back rider bringing out a bag of horse feces.  Many of our state parks and beaches are also patroled, and the entry fee helps to pay for those rangers… should we charge a fee to access the beach by one and all?  It would help with enforcement of dog ordinances, as well as other ordinances.
however, i would like to add that I have been jumped on by numerous pugs and other small dogs, so the size of the dog does not matter, especially if we are talking about children, and this can happen on the sidewalk as well, even if the dog is leashed.  It will be pretty impossible for a person walking a dog on the sidewalks around town to stay 10ft away from anyone not wanting a dog near them.  Also, I commend the DOG group for trying to do what they can, but it is a pretty big task when they are outnumbered by the # of dog owners not part of the group.
I wonder how many people on the beach with a dog are members and non members, and how many even know about how big an issue this is.  how many of them have even read the sign that says the dog they take down there is only allowed in the beach, UNDER CONTROL be that a leash or voice command, and yes, i have seen dogs retrieved with voice command on Willard… I have personally seen some pretty irresponsible dog owners talking on cell phones and not even aware of where the dog is that they brought there, but I have also seen many responsible people who have brought dogs there and were respectful of others and the space.
I for one would not be for banning one group and leaving another group unpunished for the impact they make as well.  I have heard Gary ask how many dog citations have been handed out, but I have never heard anyone ask how many spray painting and littering fines have been handed out.
I think there should be a plan to preserve our beach, clean it up and make it the precious resource that it is.  That takes a lot more than not allowing dogs.

I agree, people do litter. But dog waste can be controlled by not allowing them on the beach during the warmer months. It also removes the chance of children or adults being injured. Yes yes it hasn’t happened ... BLAH Blah blah. You buckle up everyday in case of an accident right ? Hopefully your house/car has never been broke into , but you probably lock your doors. Insurance wouldn’t cover you if you didn’t. It’s about being prudent,responsible and considerate. As I read once on one of the posts concerning dog access to the beach. would you let your dog defecate/pee in your kids sandbox ? Then why would you let them on the beach ? Common sense says no. Dogs still get 6 months on the beach. Non dog owners and dog owners get 12 months on. It’s not rocket science why the referendum needs to happen…

I am surprised at how many people are saying things like
“I think if you are going to take on the responsibility of dog ownership, you should either get a small animal, or have a place to run not on public land.”
This is not the first person to say something like this in regard to dogs in the city.  Why do any other citizens think it is okay to tell someone what kind and how big a dog someone else should have?  Should we start passing laws on what the size of the animal is allowed?  How many children are allowed per family?  What about cats and the waste they leave?  should cats be required to be registered and only allowed out on leashes?
The issue is not the size of the dog or the size of the citizen… the issue is that the city is changing and areas that are available and have always been available are getting more use both by people, those with kids or dogs or neither a kid or a dog.  I looked up the group # of people that are part of SoPoDOG and found that it is around 200, and Gary notes that there are around 1800 dogs registered in the city.  Attacks on the DOG group might be out of line… after all, these approx. 200 people can’t possibly own all 1800+ dogs in the city, it is against the city ordinances.
I personally am concerned about the evidence of fires and drinking taking place at Hinckley Park.  I have picked up many items, even helped to drag a folded up lawn chair out of the water… talk about contamination!  Has anyone looked in the water from the bridge and seen beer bottles, soda cans, tires and other trash in the water????  EVERYONE needs to respect EVERY public space and fellow citizen.  Laws don’t make that happen… guess what, SOME people are littering and spray painting at the beach, SOME dog owners are not leashing dogs at the parking lot until after they enter, and also not abiding by the voice control law… if this is already happening, how is another law going to change it?  Do you really think in the dead of winter in a snow storm people are going to leash dogs?  This doesn’t come up until the weather is nice and people want the beach back.  So dogs get kicked off the beach… when do people get kicked off for stacking rocks that can fall on a child?  When do people get kicked off for putting trash in the water and sand?  I was just down to Willard and found Gerber cookie wrappers… pretty sure those aren’t dog treats.
Focusing on one group is completely intolerable and unacceptable.  I suggest those of you concerned with the land and contamination and other issues join the SoPoLand Trust and help keep the parks clean, volunteer to clean up and educate.

I’ll go one further if Gary Crosby, who says that he has answered all of my questions in earlier posts, can site one example of a specific response to one of the five questions I posed to him, then I will apologize.  The problem is that he has not answered a single one but is still willing to broadcast to the voting public that he has answered them all.  Voters need to be wary of a person running for office who is willing to mislead in such a blatant way.  Here for the I believe fifth time, are the questions you claim to have answered in full.  “1.  Why did you choose to be anonymous when inserting a flier into the Sentry?  2. You have stated that a school board member attacked you concerning the same flier.  What is this public officials name, what did he say, and why do you think an apology was owed you?  3. Do you still have a copy of the flyer you anonymously placed and if so would you be willing to post it on this site so that we can judge for ourselves what you said?  4. When you placed signs around town in order to defeat the high school renovation project why did you choose not to put your name on them? 5.  Who is it that is calling you names and could you give us some examples?”. All you need to do is pull up your quoted responses so that we can read them for ourselves.  Paul B.