North Fork Dog Dive dispute splits longtime event partners

The June 7-8 event has been moved to the Polo Grounds in Greenport

Greenport’s popular annual North Fork Dog Dive will be held on June 7 and 8 at the Polo Grounds on Moore’s Lane instead of its previous location at Greenport Harbor Brewery, following a fallout between the event’s co-chairs — with one accusing the other of “hijacking” the event.

Last week, the Greenport Village Board approved a public assembly permit sought by Kim Loper, co-owner of Harbor Pet in Greenport, who told village officials that some of the proceeds after expenses will go to support the Greenport Skate Park. Loper and Greenport Harbor Brewery owner Richard Vandenburgh have co-hosted the event together for eight years.

The family-oriented event — whose colorful tagline is “See Dogs Fly!” — involves dogs competing to see who can dive the farthest from a makeshift “dock” into a massive above-ground pool. Canine competitions including a long jump, a high jump and a “speed retrieve,” in which participating dogs see which one can dive into the water, retrieve an object and return to the dock fastest.

The event features live music and draws pet care and adoption groups and craft beer and food vendors. The events are produced by Dock Dogs, a national organization which bills itself as the “world’s premiere canine aquatics competition.” A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the venue change.

On Monday, Greenport Harbor Brewery’s Instagram feed featured a sad-looking dog and an announcement that the event would not be held at the brewery this year, due to a “dispute … with one of the original organizers, and they chose to intercede with the Dock Dog company, and hijacked the event without advance notice.”

The post goes on to promise that the event will return to the brewery next summer.

“While we are deeply troubled by the maneuvering, rest assured we will be working diligently to bring this event back to where we have celebrated our furry friends for more than 8 years …”

Reached this week, Loper declined to address the controversy, saying in a statement that “my focus remains on the positive.

“This year’s move to the Polo Grounds will allow multiple businesses to benefit, while bringing more visitors into Greenport. This change supports not only the local business community and the residents, but also the organizations we are proud to work with and donate to.”

In a separate letter to the village board ahead of its Thursday night meeting last week, Vandenburgh wrote that “while this event was born from the idea of Harbor Pet’s that was brought to me, it has been executed in virtually every aspect by the brewery …

“Now a dispute has arisen that Harbor Pet believes it should equally share in all revenue generated by the brewery during the event. When it was explained to Harbor Pet that the costs and revenue were not sufficient to create large surpluses to share equally, the brewery suggested alternatives to generate more revenue for Harbor Pet, but apparently that was not good enough.”

Vandenburgh wrote that Harbor Pet’s “response was to hijack the event, rush to interlope with Dog Dock Diving … attempt to improperly claim sole ownership of the event name, and now seeks to change its venue.”

The letter went on to suggest that it was improper for a private company to use public land for an event for which that company could profit, but in questioning Roper about plans for the event, village officials seemed open to the change of venue.

“I don’t think the substance of that letter really changed anything for me in terms of how I view what you’re doing there, in terms of number of people or parking,” deputy mayor Patrick Brennan told Roper. “We do use … the Polo Grounds for carnivals and other things. So I think it’s a reasonable way to use that for a short-term event.”