The South Portlander

The most effective move dog owners can make right now is to pick up their pets’ poop! My daughter and I went to Willard last week and were greeted by two big piles of dog feces in the sand right at the entrance to the beach and adjacent to the playground.
we’re dog owners, but we found that disgusting and outrageous. We picked up the piles, astounded that a dog owner who obviously takes advantage of the beach privilege could be so selfish and irresponsible in the midst of the current uproar.

And, by the way, not picking up after your dog is against the law and is a fine-able offense. Why isn’t that made clear and enforced? Copies of the ordinance about cleaning up after dogs should be handed out to everyone who licenses a dog in South Portland. This city is always complaining about lack of funds. Start collecting fines from scofflaws who foul the beaches and sidewalks with their dogs’ messes.

Great idea Linda. Too bad none of us idiot dog owners had thought about that. We should also mention it to members of SoPoDog, because no one in that group has thought about it either. Most of us just leave our dog feces anywhere it drops. I know that I for one sometimes actually move it from an inconspicuous place to one that is more noticeable. In fact, sometimes I bring it from my yard to Willard, just because it’s better there than in my yard. That very well may have been from my yard in fact! I usually take a bunch down and leave it at the entrance on Saturday morning, and then go get a sweet roll at Scratch bakery. I had no idea the public didn’t like it, and sure didn’t know it was illegal! Gosh!

Come on Mike, that is exactly the kind of negative energy Crystal is talking about.  Linda is right; it is disgusting that some people are not picking up, especially now when we are at risk of losing the joy of walking our best friends on Willard Beach.  Every year as the beach becomes less crowded in fall and winter, people seem to get lazier about this.  We have no choice but to pick up after these inconsiderate jerks, and, if we catch them in the act, to remind them about the rules. I agree that enforcement is needed, but it’s clear that this is not a priority for the SP police, so we need to be proactive. 

By the way, Linda, SoPoDog did prepare a flier about SP “dog rules” to be handed out with dog licenses, but City Hall neglected to distribute them.  Hopefully they will be handed out this year.  I think that we all know that there are some people who will ignore all rules, and no flier or ordinance will change that.  Still, I am optimistic that those people are in the minority, and that most decent citizens will respond to peer pressure and education, so let’s bring it on.  And always carry a few extra bags!

These “wise guy” replies to a serious complaint is exactly what is concerning other citizens listening to this debate. These arogant, sarcastic postings, such as this one by “Mike”, is insulting and demeaning to citizens have complaints about the enforcement.

I suggest, Mike, that if you want dogs banned all together, keep up your “wise guy” responses.  It will help your cause!!

Am I the only one a little bit disturbed that a posting on a Yahoo Group is now a news article? To my knowledge, this wasn’t released as a Press Release to the media. I thought Crystal’s message was terrific; I am just surprised to see it reprinted here. Anyone else?

Thanks, Mike. I know how I’ll vote.

I think I disagree with anonymous’ complaint about re-printing Crystal’s posting. I am not a member of the Dog Group, but I have been watching this issue for several months now. I find it interesting—and gratifying—that the president of the Dog Group has these thoughts on her mind. Her group has become very public. So how they handle themselves is worth paying attention to. Also, I just checked the SoPo Dog web site, which invites the public to join their Yahoo message board. Anyone with a Yahoo account can see all the messages. So I am not sure how private it was in the first place.
By the way, I own a dog, live near Willard Beach, do not usually take my dog to the beach, and see merits on both sides of the argument.

Thank you “Not for or against”, it is nice to see that people do appreciate that dog owners who would like to continue to access public spaces can see that we are not a “Dogs Rule!” culture. While that is the opinion of some, it not the official opinion of the group as a whole.

I was not asked if this group posting could be re-printed here, but I am always careful not to write anything on the SoPoDOG discussion group that could be taken the wrong way in case it was posted. That is important to remember for all of us. Some people may choose to post anomously, but it does reflect on how others preceive us. It is important to make sure we are respectful even when we don’t agree.

I have two dates for forum meetings for group members for brainstorming and other ideas that people in the community and dog owners have brought up as ideas to help alleviate the problems we face.
The meetings will be:
At the So Po Community Center, 21 Nelson Rd., 2nd floor meeting room
Thursday October 30 from 7-8 p.m.
and
Thursday November 6 from 7-8 p.m.
These sessions will be for on topic discussion and brainstorming of ideas to work with the Council, the community and the task force recommendations to make them work. I don’t expect us to be perfect with our ideas, but I don’t think anyone expects any person or group to be perfect. Please come with you ideas, or send them to me and I will present them to the group.

thank you,
Crystal Goodrich
President of the Dog Owners Group

Hi there, another message, sorry-
please be aware that this discussion group is being monitored by
members of the press. I have been, again, “blogged” without my
consent on the southportlander.com. I did ask in the past to be
asked before information posted on this site was used in stories,
editorials and for whatever purpose someone thought ok, but that was
not honored and another article was made out of my letter to the
group.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WHATEVER YOU WRITE ON THIS DISCUSSION GROUP CAN
BE ACCESSED BY A “MEMBER” AND CAN BE TAKEN FROM THE POSTING AND PUT
IN A PUBLIC WEBSITE OR NEWSPAPER.

Unfortunately I do not have the ability to shut people out unless I
know exactly who they are, and right now I have shut off a couple of
email addresses, but there may be other media members or members of
the public who might use our words against us or in a way that is
out of context. Keep this in mind when posting.

To get fewer emails from this group you can log in and go to your
preferences and choose the “Daily Digest” that way you won’t get a
separate email for each posting. You will get a listing for the day,
in one email, and you can click on the ones you would like to read.

If you can’t change the preferences yourself you can just email me
and I will do it for you.

thank you,
Crystal

I’m not sure how a seemingly reactionary move of banning the press or “members of the public who might use our words against us” from the SoPoDog discussion group is a smart PR move, especially as SoPoDog wants to shed the reputation it seems to be developing as hot-headed and strident.
The http://www.sopodog.com web site still says “join this group!” on the front page. Is that only for folks don’t disagree with Crystal? What happened to the person who wrote the initial note above, talking about developing “positive energy.”
Seriously… if you want to win a city-wide referendum in the future, or even just keep walking your dog on Willard Beach at all, you need to get better at PR.

Used to be Not for or Against-
I welcome any assistance or coaching you would like to give me in PR work. I am not a professional PR person and your opinions are helpful. Please drop me a line at and perhaps we can connect and you could give me a lesson in Public Relations. I would appreciate it.

Thanks again,
Crystal Goodrich

Come on Peggy. What am I supposed to say to that? The woman comes on ranting and raving against poop on the beach? And wants congratulations for having picked it up? How about I write a rant about how mad I was that I saw someone speeding? What is the response supposed to be to that ridiculous post? A high five? I am negative because I’ve spent ten years down at that beach and I collectively probably haven’t seen five piles of dog crap. All in all, people are incredibly considerate, and for the dog crowd to start pointing out that “Oh my God, I’m so incensed, I saw some poop and I can’t believe it, I’m so upset, it’s so unbelievable, blah blah blah.” Get over it. You saw some poop, you picked it up. SoPoDog has been doing that constantly for years. And so have I, without organization, without accolades, without writing in to whine and moan about it. Yeah, there will always be jackasses out there. We’re not going to stop it by crying about it or asking for congratulations because we did what we should have. You want to have a positive effect? Don’t write in to a publicly-attended board telling how you found some poop when we’re in the middle of a fight about poop on the beach. Just pick it up like you should and move on about your day.

Mike, you made my day. I-heart-u!

I am surprised -not for or against- for your judgmental change in attitude. It almost sounds like a threat that people who have dogs will not be “allowed” to access the beach. Give her a break. Besides, it wasn’t very polite for you to reprint a post without checking with the person who wrote it either. I don’t understand how you can be so complimentary one moment and then so judgmental the next and in that judgment accuse someone else of switching their position. That seems very hypocritical of you. I am not impressed with your aggressive attitude. Please be nice..

OMG what immature behavior this dispute brings out.