By Ronnie Shulgasser Santa Monica
With respect to some of the comments regarding a dog beach in Santa Monica, and in particular, Ms. Simmons’ letter, telling us to not be “scrooges,” (SMDP, May 2), I would like to respond. Ms. Simmons asks us not to fear for us to have an unfenced dog run in the middle of our pristine Santa Monica beach. Well, I do fear it and I’m not a “scrooge.”
Yesterday, I took my two grandchildren on a walk along the beautiful Santa Monica shoreline and through the very area where this dog run will be. I encountered numerous persons playing, running and swimming right in that area. I don’t know what this beach would look like or how all these people are going to be able to enjoy that area with an unfenced dog run with obnoxious red cones smack in the middle, particularly if they are afraid of animals that may or may not bite, or don’t like the sight of dogs chasing and killing birds, or defecting in front of them.
As I was walking home, I checked to see where all these dog owners were going to come from and how they would come and go to the beach dog run. I see nothing but problems with hundreds of dog owners crossing the bike path, trying to find parking and bringing their animals to the sand.
When I got home I checked the Heal the Bay Web site and looked up the water quality for the dog run in the area proposed. The water quality in the area between the Santa Monica Pier and past tower 13 (roughly the coastline that sandwiches the proposed dog beach run) is consistently the worst in the entire Santa Monica Bay and routinely gets an “F” rating. Moreover, the area where the dog beach run is being proposed (between towers 11 and 12) had the best of the water quality within this “bad zone.” I guess the dog beach peoples’ theory is that since the water quality in the area proposed is between areas that have such poor quality, it really does not matter if the water quality suffers from dog excrement.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.