Whether you live on Isle of Palms full time, just a daytripper or visiting on vacation, if you own a dog and wish to take it to the beach or dog park you may soon be required to have proper licensing and paperwork.
Last Tuesday, Isle of Palms City Council voted in close favor, 5-4, to draft a new ordinance to require resident and non-resident dog owners to purchase a tag by showing proof of an updated rabies inoculation signed by a licensed veterinarian prior to accessing the island's dog park and beachfronts.
The permitting cannot be officially enforced until the ordinance passes a final council reading at a later date not yet decided.
"Our beach, in essence, is our public park," council member Randy Bell said. "If we go to Mount Pleasant or other communities dogs cannot run free or off leash without adhering to local law."
Bell urged that nothing would change for residents, who would continue to pay a $5 licensing fee. However, non-residents would incur a $10 fee per dog tag, which is valid up to one year from the date of issuance. Fines for violation were not specified.
Council's decision was evidently torn judging by the turnout of the vote, some viewed it as a safety convenience for authorities to hold all canines on the island accountable and make their whereabouts known.
"If we have everyone who comes to visit go to the police department and get a tag we then have them [dogs] registered. If they do get loose we have them on record and we can identify it if it does get lost," council member Sandy Ferencz said. "I'm looking at this more as an island-wide policy that enables all dog owners to protect their dogs."
While other council members viewed the ordinance as an "unrealistic" and "burdensome" inconvenience for citizens and administration alike.
"I just don't see how it's enforceable in realistic terms to get every single dog that's coming on the Isle of Palms to stop and register at the police station to get a tag," council member Carol Rice said.
"We do have a law that every resident is supposed to register their dog and like 330 people register their dog each year. There are definitely more than that on the island," Rice added.
By state law, if you own a dog, cat or ferret you are obligated to keep your animal's rabies shot up-to-date, according to South Carolina Department of Environmental Control.
"It's a state law. We don't need to innodate the police, we don't need to innodate the staff with having every vacation or visitor that comes to this island to go up to the public safety building to purchase a $10 tag," council member Ryan Buckhannon said. "We just need to find a way to enforce the law by city ordinance and we already have that on the books."
If passed, dog licenses will be available for purchase at Isle of Palms Police Department's Public Safety Building, located at 30 J.C. Long Blvd. The Bark Park is located on 29th Avenue behind the Isle of Palms Recreation Center.
As a reminder, from April 1 through Sept. 14, dogs are allowed to be off-leash on Isle of Palms beaches from 5-9 a.m. During Sept. 15 through March 31, that time changes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
