Ocean Grove is a “dog town.” Where’s our dog park or beach? Go to Asbury. Paul Goldfinger photo © Blogfinger.net
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger Re-post from 2017.
Cindy Stiles, the proprietor of Pet Boutique* on Main Avenue in OG, has collected 1,000 signatures on petitions and she has gone before the Camp Meeting Association at least twice to ask them to permit a “private” dog park facility on their land near the tennis courts, but each time she has been turned down.
Ocean Grove could be called “Dog Town” because it’s loaded with dogs—residents and visitors. But evidently there aren’t too many dog lovers on the CMA Board.
Today, at the Annual CMA Labor Day Report, Cindy went to the microphone to try again. And try she did: Cindy even told them that “God spelled backwards is dog.” She seemed a bit desperate when she said that “some dog owners would like to pray with their pets in a dog park.” Her main argument was that many visitors to town are dismayed when they learn that there are no dog runs for their pets.
However, regardless of how many persuasive arguments Cindy could muster, Dale Whilden, CMA President, could not be moved saying that the Board had a variety of reasons for rejecting the idea including concerns about animal “spats”, diseases, poop, security issues and more.
But the idea was checkmated when Dr. Whilden disclosed that the CMA had its eyes on that property for a possible parking lot or a place to store off-season life-guard chairs and/or more beach lockers.
And the final coup de grace was when he said that the CMA needed to focus its attention on its “vision and mission”and that they had a “long list” of new ideas to get to, and a dog park was not on that list. Priorities trump pets. He did mention that the OG beach was open for dogs during the off-season, and many Grovers with dogs take advantage of that courtesy.
But Cindy was still not backing down, until someone shouted, “Let’s move on,” followed by a smattering of applause.
So Cindy had to step away—-clearly she was barking up the wrong tree.
* Cindy lost her business in the Grove due to unaffordable rent increases by her Main Avenue landlord.
HARRY NILSSON:
Jersey Jane: You might have added that not all dog owners are enthused about dog runs. When you get a bunch of dogs together, even if the owners are diligent and present, the unexpected can happen suddenly resulting in a vicious fight with injuries. Also some dog owners are worried about the contacts of their pets with strangers–drinking from the same water, transmitting viruses or bacteria, etc.
I don’t have a dog and I have seen well run dog parks in Florida where the results are quite good, but there are some aspects of this apart from CMA policy. —–PG
I noticed that Ms. Stiles’ arguments are inconsistent. On the one hand, she told us that visitors regularly ask about a dog park, but on the other hand she talks about fobs and vetting the owners and dogs and 3 strikes and making sure the dogs have their shots and get along with other dogs.
How can it be open to visitors if it is “private?”
Some people were dismayed at the suggestion that the beach be open for dogs in the early mornings. We all worry that some owners are not very diligent about cleaning up.
We have plenty of parks where dogs can be walked. Oh, yeah, you have to keep them leashed and clean up after them!