Dogs
may still romp on the beach
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
 The
Haute Dogs dog beach has found co-sponsors
that will provide the money to continue
the monthly event. The city of Long Beach
and the Recreation Park Dog Association
have joined Haute Dogs founder Justin Rudd
and his English bulldog Rosie on the beach.
Three months ago the Haute Dogs beach program
was in jeopardy due to the necessity of
a $1 million insurance policy to cover the
event. That is when the city and the Recreation
Dog Park Association stepped in.
 “The
mandatory insurance policy was becoming
quite burdensome,” said City of Long Beach
Parks and Recreation employee Geoffrey Hall.
“The City and Recreation Dog Park decided
to co-sponsor the monthly beach events and
that has relieved much *of the insurance
concern.”
According to Justin Rudd, the event organizer
and Haute Dogs founder, the new co-sponsors
have been working with the program since
July and are expecting to stay involved
until at least December.
“I’m elated, any time the city can pick
up on a grass roots program it brings a
lot of excitement and fun,” Rudd said. “We’ve
been pushing the city for a year and a half
and now they are starting to listen.”
The city of Long Beach has heard Rudd and
his companions very clearly.
“The city is a partner with Haute Dogs now
and we have decided to start a pilot program,”
David Ashman of the Long Beach Operations
Bureau said. “The dog zone will be a strictly
experimental run at seeing if we can have
a permanent area setup on our shoreline
for dogs.”
According to Ashman the area would be in
the same spot or close to the area that
the monthly Hautedogs program now occupies.
The dog zone would set up certain times
of access for dog owners to allow their
pets an opportunity to roam free in the
designated area.
Last Thursday in a public meeting held by
the city of Long Beach the council heard
good comments from both supporters and opponents
of the permanent dog beach, Ashman said.
Hall said the program was well received
at the meeting except for the fact that
the city was more inclined to move the location
of the experimental dog zone farther down
the beach.
“Public safety was a concern of the lifeguards,”
Hall said. “The Marine Advisory Commission
will decide where the best possible location
for the zone will be.”
Hall stressed that the city must take into
account the needs of other beach-goers when
making a final decision.
“The city wants to move farther down the
beach to accommodate the kite surfers and
other groups that frequent the beach,” Hall
said. “That is one issue that brought dissension
at the public meeting, the location of the
dog zone.”
Also a concern for the city is the availability
of parking for those attending the dog zone.
Ashman says one of the city’s primary concerns
is not upsetting the status quo of the surrounding
neighborhood.
“We want to make sure the people in their
homes don’t feel violated by the invasion
of cars into their neighborhood,” Ashman
said. “Parking is a serious concern.”
Whatever plans the future holds for a permanent
dog zone on the shoreline Hautedogs founder
Justin Rudd is satisfied, for now.
“It’s getting worked out we had the public
meeting and the concept was well received
by both sides,” Rudd said. “Hopefully we
will see the dog zone by December.”
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