Dog Liberation Day

   The sun must have known that Sunday was Dog Liberation Day. It was shining all day long as exuberant hounds and their owners returned in force to East Hampton Town bathing beaches to celebrate the end of their annual four-month banishment.

   From May 15 to Sept. 15, dogs are not permitted during prime daylight hours within 300 feet of a town-designated bathing beach, as road-end signs proclaim. For all practical purposes, the law discourages owners from taking their pets to the beach altogether in daytime, which may or may not have been its intent. How are you supposed to get a 60-pound Lab from the parking lot to the 300-foot line?

   Those who try to hurry their animals through no-dog's-land often take flak from sunbathers who accuse them of breaking the law, even when they point to the signs and explain they're heading for authorized territory. Not all dog-lovers are prepared to go so far as the letter-writer in this week's issue who whips out a copy of the Town Code whenever he is challenged.

   The East Hampton Town Trustees, who claim ownership of most of the beaches, are well aware of the 300-foot paradox, as is the Town Board. Once a year or so, usually in May or September, one or the other board kicks it around and tries to come up with a solution. Two weeks ago, for example, there was talk of creating "doggie lanes" in the sands. (We promise never to mention it again if the Trustees don't.)

   In the end, though, the ancient governing body decided that the law should not be changed and to rely on people's common sense and good will to maintain harmony. That seems the best approach.

   And fall is surely the best time of the year to be out for a walk on a South Fork beach, whether you stand on two feet or four.