Walkin’ Pooch on Bay Beach? Use Leash, Scoop

NORTH CAPE MAY — With beaches here and in Town Bank becoming more popular, even though the county Health Department does not recommend swimming there, Lower Township officials have promised to issue citations to those who let their dogs run unleashed and leave behind a mess.
At a July 2 township council meeting, Shore Drive resident Peggy Connors told council that signs are posted along her street and on Beach Drive informing dog owners their pets must be on a leash on the beach, but those are being ignored. She noted the township has provided stands with plastic bags for dog feces.
Connors asked why the township was not enforcing the dog laws. She said unleashed dogs are on the beach all day and their owners are not cleaning up their messes.
She asked if council members wanted their children or grandchildren walking on dog feces.
Township Manager Joe Jackson said he would instruct the township’s code enforcement officer to spend time on the beach and issue summons.
Police Chief Ed Donohue said the department had an ATV that could be used on the beach if he had enough officers to cover it. He said in 1995, the police department had 54 officers and an additional tactical squad that used the ATV, rode bicycles, assisted detectives and mediated neighborhood disputes.
“I don’t have that any more,” said the chief. “Guys are just running from call to call trying to keep their head above water.”
He said he needed extra officers to handle problems such as unleashed dogs on the beach.
Donohue said he would try to get an officer on an ATV on weekends to patrol the length of the beach and start issuing tickets.
Pacific Avenue resident Theresa Lapinkski said the dog problem on the beach at Lincoln Avenue was a health issue.
“It’s not just people coming with one dog unleashed, any more,” she said. “ People now come with three, four, and five dogs, unleashed.”
Lapinksi said she has called police on the matter a number of times for dogs running loose on the beach at Lincoln Boulevard and they have been “excellent.” She said police called animal control which came to the scene.
Lapinksi said animal control did not issue citations but only warned dog owners. She said a township ordinance stipulates a $50 fine for unleashed dogs.
“If one person were given a ticket, the news would spread like wildfire…” said Lapinski.
She said the township could earn $5,000 in one day in fines.
Delaware Bay Drive resident Ed Butler concurred with Lapinkski and Connors.
“I live on the beach too and it costs me $25 a day to look out my window in taxes and I see the same thing that they do,” he said.
Lipinski suggested someone be deputized for a part time position to “casually stroll the beach” and issue citations. She said it is a “known fact” the Lincoln Boulevard beach is dog beach.
Lipinski told council she struck up a conversation with a dog owner on that beach who told her she was staying in a motel in North Wildwood. She said the motel’s manager told the dog owner she could take her dog to the Lincoln Avenue beach, since North Wildwood does not permit dogs on its beaches.
“In other words, let your dog mess there, but we want a nice clean beach in North Wildwood,” said Lipinski.
Mayor Walter Craig said animal control has been a problem.
Following the resignation of both township animal control officers, council approved a contract with South Jersey Animal Service, of Ocean City on June 18.
“Every time we have thought we had a resolution to it, we seem to have a curve ball thrown at us,” said the mayor.
Town Bank resident Steve Sheftz said he put up his own signs at the beach. He said a number of dogs were entering the beach at Englewood Road daily at 7 a.m.