I’ve seen all sorts of nutty things done by bureaucrats, but this one has to be right up at the top. The San Diego City Council has decided to broadcast recorded dog barking tapes to scare away the seals that are squatting on the Children’s Pool Beach in La Jolla.

The dog barking tapes will be broadcast from 6 am to until after dark at the Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla. Even worse, the plan is expected to cost the City $700,000 a year, and they intend to use water sprays and other sounds if this doesn’t work, or if the seals eventually learn to ignore the dog barks.

Now, this is wrong from so many angles, it’s mind-boggling that any city official with even a little bit of common sense would agree to it. First, it’s questionable if the visitors and residents in La Jolla want the seals evicted. I mean, 200 odd seals sunning themselves on a nice beach is a visitors’ dream - It’s one of the best natural attractions in San Diego.

Second, even if they do, the City will be hard pressed to gin up support for such a hair-brained scheme were poor seals are terrorized and scared out of their wits for doing something which is natural for them - goof around on the beach.

Third, the minute the City gives the green light for this plan, they’re going to get hit with a dozen lawsuits from animal rights activists. And imagine the amount of traction the youtube video will get - with dogs barking, defenseless scared seals being sprayed with water cannons and trying desperately to get away from it. That’s a virtual guarantee that it will end up on TV and San Diego will be forced to give it up. And PETA will be all over this.

To be fair, the seals and the site have been the center of legal disputes for over 10 years now, and the seals have made one of the most magnificent beaches in San Diego virtually out-of-bounds for all beachgoers. And earlier this year, a Superior Court judge ordered the City to reduce bacterial contamination on the beach - to comply the seals will have to evicted and the beach dredged.

But dog barking tapes and water cannons? That’s like Abu Ghraib for seals…

Photo by SD Dirk via flickr (creative commons).

Related Links:-
How to move the seals? Dog recordings
Keeping seals in La Jolla focus of city request to state

Posted on May 25th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: san diego