Dog gone

The Scarborough Town Council was set to vote Wednesday on an ordinance update that would bar dogs from being off leash on public beaches between April 1 and Sept. 15. Previously, dogs could run free, albeit under “voice control,” from sunrise until 9 a.m.

Proposed changes to the town’s Animal Control Ordinance also increase the time when dogs cannot be on public beaches at all by more than two months to start April 1 instead of June 15, and running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 15.

The widely publicized killing of an endangered piping plover by a dog at Pine Point Beach on July 15 prompted the changes. Although federal officials have refused to confirm it, Town Manager Tom Hall says the town is being investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for possible violations of the Endangered Species Act in connection with the incident, with potential fines that start at $25,000.

Wednesday’s meeting was scheduled to take place after the deadline for this week’s Current. Coverage will appear online at www.keepmecurrent.com on Thursday.

At Wednesday’s meeting, King Street resident Robert Rovner was scheduled to present alternatives to the expanded ban on dogs, including suggestions for increased animal control patrols during the plover mating season, potentially paid for with new parking meters and/or special beach passes for dog owners.

“I challenge the council to do the right thing and enforce the laws you currently have,” he wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to the town. “If you do that you will not have to worry about dates and times.”

Rovner has questioned if the July 15 killing actually took place, given that state and federal officials have neither charged, nor named, the dog owner involved.