A Shore rarity: Wildwood opening dog beach

A portion of Wildwood, New Jersey is going to the dogs….and cats. 

Most beaches on the Jersey Shore are off-limits to dogs during the summer, but Wildwood Commissioner Pete Byron said the town decided to designate a portion of its sand for pets.

If he stays on leash, Byron said there’s no reason to leave Fido out of your vacation plans.

“We think this is going to be a great boost for our tourism,” Byron said. “We figure that some of these people who come down, who can only come down for one day and hustle home to take care of their pooch, now we hope we can turn these single day visitors into multi-day visitors.”

Fear not feline lovers, Byron said if you want to bring your cats to the beach to play, they can come — as long as they are kept under control.

“We want to make sure that there’s some sort of a balance where we aren’t going have animal fights and things like that,” he said.

The section of beach between Poplar and Magnolia Avenues won’t be ready for pets until about mid-June. Byron said they need to set up new signs, water stations as well as places to put pet waste.