Dog beaches in Los Angeles would be increased under proposed ballot measure

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Jeff Douek found his dog, Libero on a beach in Brazil 11 years ago. But taking Libero to the beach now he says takes too long, with only one off-leash dog beach in Los Angeles County.

So he and his husband Jeff Teigen have gathered thousands of signatures to get a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot that would establish more off-leash dog beaches in the county. Right now the only one is Rosie's Beach in Long Beach.

"It becomes an entire day-long activity where if we could just go for an hour or two to a beach near us that would be ideal," Douek said.

The measure would designate three to five off-leash dog beaches in Los Angeles County, each one at least one-quarter mile wide and no more than 10 miles from the next one.

Douek and Teigen need about 146,000 signatures by June 15 to get the measure on the county ballot and they've gathered about half that so far.

Heal the Bay, the environmental group which works to protect Southern California beaches, declined comment on the measure, planning to meet with its supporters first. But the group said in general it has concerns about water quality and public health at dog beaches.

The ballot measure supporters are holding another event to collect signatures at Rosie's Beach on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.