Dog Owners March for a Beach to Run on

Even the Tarot card reader and the man selling sand sculptures stared in disbelief at the crowd of about 200 dog owners, pooches at their sides, marching down the Venice boardwalk Saturday and chanting “Free Our Dogs!”

The morning march was an attempt to rally support for a proposed dog beach along the Venice shore where canines could frolic leash-free in the sand and surf. Officials have been cool to the idea, but undaunted dog activists demanded that the city let their canines go.

“We all have freedom, but dogs don’t,” said Michelle Zezula, a clothing designer who says her husky, Beauty, loves running on the beach.

The pooch protest was organized by a 600-member group of dog owners--Friendly, Responsible Environmentally Evolved Pet Lovers Alliance Yes!, also known as FREEPLAY.

City laws prohibit all dogs on the beach, leashed or unleashed. Dog owners must steal out under the cover of darkness to let their hounds run free.

Alliance co-founder Daryl Barnett said that many California beaches--from Carmel to Del Mar--allow unleashed dogs. But the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission earlier this year appeared reluctant to designate three stretches of Venice Beach for canines, citing health risks and the threat of dog droppings on the beach.

Barnett said the plan is still being considered and that the alliance will compile its own report on the feasibility of having areas designed for dogs along a shoreline already jammed with humans. Saturday’s “Rover Rally”--along with a vaccination clinic for dogs--was an attempt to keep the issue in the public eye and garner new members.

A mosaic of hounds--from Dalmatians to German shepherds to Chihuahuas--gathered at the graffiti pit off the boardwalk Saturday morning.

While the dogs sniffed and yelped at one another, the owners shopped for dog food and FREEPLAY T-shirts and spoke wistfully of letting their dogs run free on the beach.

“Have you ever seen a dog play in the sand?” asked Elizabeth Sutton. “It’s a transformation.”

Aloysius Chan, 30, of Torrance, concurred. His English bulldogs--Josh and Bentley--love the water. “They should have a chance to go to the beach too,” he said.

Barry McBride, 45, a Glendale financial analyst, scoffed at the most common objection to dog beaches--that dogs leave a mess. “Most people are bigger pigs than dogs are on the beach,” he said.

McBride’s Labrador retriever, Budd, kept trying to make a break for the sand.

“He goes straight to the water, and to have a leash on him at that point is ridiculous.”

Budd’s fondness for surf once landed McBride and his wife, Denise McMora, in hot water. Last year in Redondo Beach, Budd dashed from a seaside park into the water, and when Denise retrieved him, she found herself staring up at two Redondo Beach police officers. The incident led to her being convicted of a misdemeanor, she said.

Dog owners grumbled that police ticketing for dogs on the beach has risen recently, one reason for the push for a dog beach.

As Chris Plourde stirred up the crowd from the stage--”This is a show of support for dogs all over L.A.! This is not just a Venice issue!”--the hounds and humans took to the streets.

The procession was vintage Venice--elderly women, couples pushing strollers and tattooed surf bums, all strolling side by side, carrying placards reading “Off-leash dogs are happy dogs” and “Born to be wild.”

The march ended in front of a video camera a few blocks north of the graffiti pit.

The protesters huddled so their image could be broadcast on the Internet.