By Donald Wittkowski
Editor
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Dogs and their owners get dressed up in costumes for the zany annual Howl-O-Ween Parade, one of the ways Ocean City welcomes canines.
Dogs may soon have their day in Ocean City.
Make that their daycare.
Acknowledging that pet sitting is needed in town, Ocean City officials have taken the first step to allow doggie daycare by proposing a change in the zoning law.
City Council introduced an ordinance Thursday night that would allow kennels and doggie daycare if they are approved by the zoning board. Kennels are currently banned, which means that doggie daycare businesses are as well, City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said.
If adopted, the main benefit of the ordinance would be to allow a doggie daycare business in town for the first time, city officials said. The ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing and final vote at the Jan. 23 Council meeting.
Councilman Keith Hartzell, who owns a Yorkie named Fletcher, said doggie daycare is long overdue in Ocean City. Referring to the popularity of pet sitting in other towns, he called Ocean City “behind the times.”
“We’re a dog town. I know that from knocking on doors,” Hartzell said, referring to how he would make the rounds on the campaign trail accompanied by Fletcher.
Councilman Terry Crowley, another dog lover, said doggie daycare is a service that is “definitely needed” in town.
McCrosson told Council that the ordinance was prompted by someone who has expressed interest in opening a doggie daycare business. No details of the business, including the owner’s name or where it would be located, were announced at the Council meeting.
In an interview after the meeting, Hartzell stressed that any location for a doggie daycare business would have to be somewhere in the city’s commercial district. He noted that the city would “be cautious” about the location because it would involve the care of animals.
With no doggie daycare available now in Ocean City, dog owners have to leave the island to find pet sitters in other towns, Hartzell said.
“A lot of people don’t want to leave their dog alone,” he said of the owners going to work.
Knowing that many families choose their vacation destination based on its pet-friendly reputation, Ocean City touts itself, as Hartzell put it, a “dog town.”
The city has long had a dog park at 45th Street and Haven Avenue. During the offseason, the city lifts its ban on dogs on the beaches. Dogs are permitted on the beaches from Oct. 1 to April 30, provided they are on a leash and their owners clean up any messes.
Ocean City is also known for its wacky Doo Dah celebration and parade each April headlined by hundreds of basset hounds.
Normally, dogs are banned from the Boardwalk, but the city allows the canines to take over during the annual Howl-O-Ween Parade in October. Hosted by the Humane Society of Ocean City, the Howl-O-Ween Parade drew more 400 dogs last year, many dressed in colorful and outlandish costumes.
The parade is part of an entire “Dog Days” weekend in October that allows leashed dogs on the Boardwalk on Saturday and Sunday.
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.