The South Portland Dog Owners Group is now running as a PAC.

Crystal Goodrich, DOG president, said the group formed the political action committee, to meet state spending rules as it lobbies against a local referendum to impose restrictions on dog walking at Willard Beach.

Organizations raising or spending $1,500 to influence elections in Maine may be required to register and file campaign finance reports with the Ethics Commission, according to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

DOG, which has 200 members, scheduled an organizing meeting on Tuesday at the South Portland Community Center.

The goal was to develop strategies to convince voters to reject a citywide referendum in November to keep dogs off Willard Beach for six months each year and require them to be leashed during the off-season.

Current city rules allow dogs on the beach from May through September in the early morning and evening, and all day off-season. Dogs do not need to be leashed but must be under voice control.

Anyone who violates the beach hours may be fined $100.

The group has tapped a high-profile list of resident-members to help lead the campaign, including author/naturalist Hannah Holmes as coordinator, former City Councilor David Jacobs as fund-raising coordinator and retired Boston businesswoman Peggy Stewart as treasurer. All the posts are voluntary.

Artist Jim Williams, who owns Mainely Labs, a Portland gallery, donated a design he created that has been printed on T-shirts that DOG is selling to raise money.

The colorful design shows a pair of labs prancing, with the Spring Point Ledge lighthouse in the background. The T-shirts have the DOG logo.

Local pet photographer Meredith Perdue, who runs a gallery in Willard Square, donated her services for illustrating brochures the group plans to print.

Goodrich says DOG volunteers will be canvassing neighborhoods across the city to talk with residents about the dog owners’ group and why members want to keep current beach access for pets.

“Dogs have always been allowed on Willard Beach. It’s a South Portland tradition,” Goodrich said.

“The people who walk their dogs on the beach are a very diverse community, from doctors to fishermen and seniors to children,” she said.

“Some people aren’t dog owners but like watching the dogs play, and they like meeting the community of dog walkers. We all help each other, and keep the beach and other open spaces clean.”

Goodrich said DOG hopes to use money from donations to buy promotional materials, such as signs, brochures and “stuff directly related to getting out the vote.” Supporters can donate online through the group’s Web site (www.sopodog.com)

She described the effort to defeat the ban as “very much grassroots. We’re meeting in people’s houses and various places. We are keeping a low overhead in regards to costs.”

Save Willard Beach, which pushed for the referendum, also may be forming a political action committee, if it meets the spending thresholds, said organizer Gary Crosby, a City Council candidate.

“We’ll probably do some advertising at some point, a pamphlet or some direct mail,” said Crosby, a local businessman and pet owner.

Crosby said he’s just trying to get information “out to the people and explain to them why we think this is a good law.”

Crosby said he sought the law change because “It’s just not a good idea to have the dogs on the beach in the summer… The (Centers for Disease Control) flatly points out that particularly children should not play where animals go to the bathroom. That’s what happens on the beach.”

He added that some members of the public also fear dogs but want to go to the beach in the warmer months during the hours dogs are allowed there, which is from 7-9 in the morning and evening.

Crosby said he feels as though he has popular support for the referendum. He is not actively seeking donations, though Save Willard Beach has a Web site (www.savewillardbeach.com).

“Primarily, when I point out that dog owners say it is OK for dogs to go to the bathroom – and they have a doctor to support their argument – people’s facial expressions are like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’

“We’re counting on common sense to shine through,” he said. “When the public is educated, they’ll say, ‘That is disgusting.'”