Paws-itively Awesome Adventures: Ocean Beach and Beyond

Walking on Ocean Beach is one of the great pleasures of living in the Bay Area. photo: AdobeStock

One of my favorite things to do here in the city is to wander around Ocean Beach, especially on a sunny day when the wind isn’t blasting sand in my face (but hey - free microdermabrasion!). I love all the birds that congregate by the water, whether it’s the friendly ravens and the ever-hungry seagulls tussling like Sharks and Jets over a dead crab, or the plovers and sandpipers dashing around like they’re late for a very important meeting. 

But nothing gets those birds going like a dog bounding into their midst in an explosion of joy, energy, and sand. And I confess that it always brings a smile to my face. (No birds were harmed in the writing of this article).

Last weekend, I went for a walk on the beach with my friends and Hazel, their 10-month-old Corgi. It was a gray, dismal day, but none of the dogs were deterred from running around, chasing balls and sticks (and birds), and making friends with other dogs. 

Watching a dog catch a tennis ball in midair, we got to talking about agility, which is one of my favorite dog sports, along with dog dancing . These sports aren’t just fun and games, either. They’re an important way to bring enrichment, both physical and mental, into your furry friend’s life. They’re also a great way for guardians to bond with their dogs. Running an agility course together, doing some heelwork to music (HTM,) or just going freestyle builds trust and helps your pup develop their social skills. And of course the element of competition in any dog sport keeps things interesting.  

Speaking of keeping things interesting, last month marked the commission’s triumphant return to in-person meetings at City Hall. Unfortunately, I placed last in the race to be the first commissioner to arrive. However, I definitely won the championship of somehow getting lost in the basement of City Hall. Luckily, I made it to Room 408 in time for the meeting. In my defense, it was my first in-person commission meeting since I was appointed during the pandemic.

While Bay Woof is a dog magazine, as former Commissioner Irani wrote a few months ago, cats need love, too. The March commission meeting saw the culmination of many conversations the commission has engaged in over the past months about SF Animal Care and Control’s cat policies. As part of the agenda, Chair Michael Angelo Torres presented a list of recommendations to ACC regarding its cat policies, and we discussed the various points on the list, also taking comments from some of the approximately dozen or so in-person attendees. Unfortunately, due to unexpected technical difficulties, the people calling in with comments could not be patched through, but you can read some of the comments we received here. 

Toward the end of the meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to support Chair Torres’s recommendations, and ACC has already begun to implement some of these. I’m hopeful that the many discussions the commission has facilitated will continue to lead to positive change and stronger relationships between ACC and its boots-on-the-ground rescue partners. At the end of the day, we are all in it together, and our goal is to improve life for all of San Francisco’s animals, whether they are wild, tame, furry, or feathered. 

Unfortunately, there will be no commission meeting in April due to scheduling conflicts, but the commissioners will continue working behind the scenes on several projects, including how best to get data about vector-borne diseases such as heartworm or HPAI and take actionable steps to educate the public. We’re also starting to gear up on an initiative concerning glue traps, which I expect will be a topic at the May meeting.  

In the meantime, if anyone wants to talk further about any of these issues, please let me know. And hey, feel free to join me at Ocean Beach for some ball-chasing or dog dancing fun as well. You bring the pup – I’ll bring the tennis balls and ballet slippers. 

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The San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare (Animal Commission) meets on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 pm. The meetings are once again held in-person at SF City Hall, Room 408. Details at https://sfgov.org/animals.  NOTE: There will not be an April meeting due to scheduling conflicts.