SCARBOROUGH (AP) — Scarborough voters have overturned an ordinance that requires dogs to be leashed year-round on town property.

The law was enacted by the town council in October in response to the threat of a $12,000 federal fine after an unleashed dog killed an endangered piping plover chick on a town beach in July. At the time, the dog was allowed to be loose.

But on Tuesday voters overturned the leash ordinance by a nearly 3-to-1 margin.

After the bird was killed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Scarborough has ignored repeated warnings about allowing unleashed dogs on beaches during plover nesting season.

Federal regulators agreed to drop the fine to $500 in exchange for a year-round leash law.

Some residents said the federal government was bullying the town.

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dogs, Maine, plover, scarborough, vote
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