By Tom Babbitt El Segundo
If passed, Assembly Bill 359 (AB 359) would convert a one-mile portion of Dockweiler Beach from Imperial Highway to Grand Avenue into an off-leash dog beach managed solely by volunteers using safety cones, not fencing.
This area is not in the flight path of LAX. It is south of the airport. Nearly 100,000 people used this beach in August 2004 (one month) according to LA County Lifeguard statistics. It would take approximately one-third of the licensed dogs in Los Angeles County to equal that number. Why displace nearly 100,000 users to allow a much smaller number of dog owners to show they can responsibly co-opt a beach by cordoning it off with safety cones?
The current dog beach pilot program in Los Angeles County is on a remote stretch of beach in Long Beach. After its trial run, the pilot program was not given permanent status because of official reports of irresponsible behavior on the part of dog owners, lack of volunteer participation and dog attacks on cyclists.
Proponents of the dog beach point to no adverse impact to the water quality at the Long Beach dog beach. The Long Beach dog beach, however, is in an area that received poor B and C grades in a 2003/04 report by Heal the Bay. Most LA County beaches received an A grade during the same period. The only conclusion to be drawn from the Heal the Bay grade is that the presence of dogs doesn’t improve water quality.
If you use Dockweiler beach or bicycle through it or just support the efforts of Los Angeles County to provide clean, safe open beach area, please write, e-mail or call your state senators. For more information, see www.nodogbeach.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.