Gulf Beach News

Low Class Dog Owners

Posted 9-4-07

Dog owners beware. You have fewer friends on the Treasure Island City Commission than you think.

During the last Commission Meeting a member of the Treasure Island Chamber of Commerce spoke to the Commission about the Second Annual Wag the Beach Dog Walk. The dog walk allows for one morning dog owners to walk their best friends on the beach. The event also attracts vendors and there are contests for fido and his or her master.

Last year's event drew several hundred dogs and their owners to the beach just behind the Bilmar. The Chamber feels that this years event will draw many more participants which would require even more pets and their owners to walk across the busy and dangerous Gulf Blvd.

In order to make the event safer and more accessible to all dog owners, the Chamber is asking the Commission to allow on the beach parking for the morning of the dog walk.

At this point of the meeting Commission Ed Gayton showed his true colors. More concerned about precedents than public safety, Gayton stated he would vote against allowing vehicles to be parked on the beach for this event.

As if were not bad enough, Gayton, who was also the only Commission member to speak in favor of continuing to allow the Drum Circle to go unchecked, told the Beach Beacon (Aug. 30. 2007 issue) that "his concern was that the Wag the Beach event brings a different clientele than the Sun Sand and Symphony."

Apparently Commissioner Gayton feels that dog owners are of a lower social strata than those who attend the Sun, Sand and Symphony and cannot be trusted to safely operate their vehicles on the beach.

The few low class dog owners who are capable of reading and writing can contact Commission Gayton to ask for a further explanation of what he means by "different clientele" at: egayton@mytreasureisland.org