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Date Published: 08/08/2022

ARCHIVED - Fur flies over new Cartagena dog beaches

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Residents are concerned that owners won’t pick up after their pets, further jeopardising the Mar Menor

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Fur flies over new Cartagena dog beaches

While animal lovers across the Region have welcomed the decision to open up two of Cartagena’s beaches to dogs at the end of the summer, many residents and business owners in the area have expressed their misgivings and questioned the necessity.

At the end of July, the mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, confirmed that La Lengua de la Vaca in Los Nietos and Los Alemanes in La Manga would join Isla Plana’s La Calera in allowing owners to relax with their dogs on the sand or frolic freely in the sea, but the move is now in jeopardy following several complaints.

Beach bar owner Pedro Conesa has taken a balanced approach, on the one hand suggesting that allowing dogs on the beach will attract more customers but on the other questioning the choice of location, since “very few people come here to bathe, so much so that the beach bar is not open in the mornings.”

Echoing the concerns of many residents, local Playa Paraíso man José Antonio Moreno is doubtful that owners will be responsible enough to clean up after their pets if they are allowed on the Los Alemanes beach.

“If we already have the side walks and town squares full of excrement, the same thing will happen on the beach and we will end up with a hygiene problem," he warned.

Chief among the fears is the impact more canine-friendly beaches will have on the already precarious state of the Mar Menor.

Rosa Boluda, a resident who spends the summer in the Lengua de la Vaca, was surprised to hear the news. "I don't think it's a problem, although there will always be neighbours who see it badly, because they believe that the lagoon could be affected in some way," she said.

In response to the concerns raised, council sources have reassured that the dog-friendly beach areas will be carefully marked and that owners will be required to keep their pets under control and clean up after them.

Image: Freepik

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