White Rock dog fight heads to public forum

Pro-dog and anti-dog groups in White Rock, B.C., will square offWednesday night over a proposed pilot project to allow Rover and Spot on the beachside promenade eight months of the year.

Officials are expecting a packed house at a public forum after council unanimously approved allowing leashed dogs on the popular stroll between the months of September and April.

The plan is currently on hold after city staff recommended that more community consultation was needed.

Dogs are currently banned completely from the White Rock promenade and Patricia Kealy,who runs the Facebook page "No Dogs on the Promenade," would like see it stay that way.

"There's just not enough room for dogs and people to interact safely," she said.

Poop, urine, conflicts

According to Kealy allowing dogs on the narrow promenade will trigger an onslaught of problems likepoop, urine and leash-tangling conflicts.

But the man who pitched the idea to White Rock council toallow dogs says the ban is "blocking an entire demographic from enjoying the city."

Michael Armstrong, who unsuccessfully ran for council on a pro-dogs platform, saysany problems arising from allowing dogs can be easily managed if the city enforcesits ownbylaws.

'Manage by exception'

"I've enjoyed communities where it's inclusive and everybody's welcome and those communities just manage by exception," he said."So if there's fiveper cent of the public that pollute ordon't pick up or create noise, thosepeople are dealt with through bylaws."

Armstrong, who is behind the "Dogs in White Rock" Facebook page, believes lifting the ban will attract more people to the promenade,which in turn will boost businesses along the beach and increase cityparking revenue.

But Kealy says the opposite is true.

"The argument that maybe more people would come down to the beach and help businesses, that's wrong. Just as many people would stay away if therewere dogs," she said.

Armstrong says well over 40per cent of White Rock households have a dog, but Kealyquestions how that can be possible with only 631dog licencesregistered in a population of 20,000 people.

The public forum begins at 6 p.m. at the White Rock Community Centre.

The proposal does not includeallowing dogs on the White Rock pier, which remains closed after it was destroyed in a windstorm lastmonth.