East-end dog owners hold Kew Beach cleanup

East-end dog owners hold Kew Beach cleanup – CP24

A group of east-end dog owners continue to protest city plans to ban dogs from several beaches, organizing a cleanup of Kew Beach on Saturday morning to show their commitment to the community.

Over several hours they collected all sorts of trash including food containers, newspapers, and even an old car tire, point attention to the fact that human waste appears to be having a much greater impact on the environment than what’s left behind by four-legged pets.

The city imposed the ban to meet the international Blue Flag standard, which designates beaches that are safe for swimming. Toronto already has six Blue Flag beaches and hopes to have 11 by the start of this year’s swimming season.

It’s expected that Kew-Balmy beach will achieve Blue Flag status in April.

After initially planning an outright dog ban at the beaches trying for Blue Flag certification, city council compromised with dog owners, deciding to continue to allow dogs within a penned-in area at Kew-Balmy Beach.

Under the agreement, people can walk leashed dogs from one of the beach’s two fenced off-leash areas to the other without penalty.

Enforcement of the dog-walking laws had been ramped up in recent months as owners face $300 fines.