Anti-Tethering law!

Can you guys give me some information about why Anti-Tethering laws are NOT a good resolution to the problem of animal abuse/neglect?


I'm ashamed to say my county is discussing an anti-tethering law, I do not know the details of the proposed law yet, but I'm looking into it.

I'm doubly ashamed to say that a person I know and often volunteer with at the shelter, though she meant very well, has been the person who purposed the law in the first place. If it wasn't for her contacting her local representative, they wouldn't be discussing this law at all. All of this because she saw a dog that was tethered 24/7 on a very short rope and the ACO couldn't take from it's owner because it had food and shelter.

I know she means well, but I do NOT want this to be made a law. She described the situation with the dog, and that now the dog is on the back patio, with a dirty blanket and a bunch of junk on a longer tether. And says "WE NEED A ANTI-TETHERING LAW." WTF. The junk, the dirty blankets, the neglect, that's not going to change with a fence. *sigh*

I just need info and tips on sending a letter to my representative, as well as a letter to everyone she sent a letter to about writing in SUPPORT of the anti-tethering law so at least they have both sides.

I still need some more help with this.

I got a few points together, and am trying my best but I'm kinda busy and the meeting to discuss the law is THIS Monday!!!

What are the points that you have so far? And have you looked at the other tethering threads?

There's always the notion that an irresponsible pet owner will be that regardless of whether tethering is allowed.

What about for the people that want their dogs in the front yard with them while they do yard work and can't now because some areas have passed a law saying tethering is inhumane? Pretty ridiculous. I used to put Buddy on a tie out at our old place while I worked in the yard, he sure wasn't neglected.

So some say why not just train the dog to stay there, which is all fine and dandy for dogs that aren't a flight risk when they see a squirrel or when a stray dog comes on their property, but what about the dog that will BOLT when something like that does happen?

Perhaps a limit, like 8 hours as long as food, water and shelter is provided. This is like people who crate, too. Is that inhumane when it keeps the dog safe?

My Grand-dog Seger does not have a fenced in area ..... they live in a very quiet area in a cul-de sac . He sticks close to them when they are out , but this winter did a tie out or tether by the door to go pot when they couldn't watch him for a few minutes . The "laws " need a time limit !!!! Here it's no tie outs between 11 PM and 5 am. There is nothing wrong with limited tethering !!! It's for those who chain 24/7 with no family life and therefore are prone to become aggressive . If any dog has to be an outside dog only ...( God bless it !) It needs to be in a fenced in area with shelter and plenty of room to have it's food and water area and poop area . Dogs on short chains don't have this !!!

I've got the fact that tethering isn't the cause for aggression/neglect, it's lack of socilaization, training, etc that cause that. People cause neglect not tethering. And they can be just as neglected in a fenced yard.

They sent me a bunch of laws other states/counties have on tethering, and I basically went through them (some of them there are a LOT) and said what I liked, and what worried me.

I like having a time limit to be tethered. I figured 6-7 consecutive hours should be plenty of time on a tether for any activity. I did NOT like banning tethering all completely, because some people need them if they have no fencing, fencing that is not secure enough, and a dog who is a major escape artist (example for that is a friend of mine) that can jump/climb fences at will.

Also liked having a length of tether, such as at least 3 times the dos length from head to tail.

I did NOT like the time limit (no tethering between 10pm-5am) because sometimes people get up early for work and may need to send the dog to potty late at night, possibly on a tether if they have no yard.

Um, I think I had one or two other things, but I can't remember.

I did look at the tetherin threads, but it's a lot of nonsense to go through as well as good information. And I just don't have the time to do that right now.

There is a problem with this. The big problem would be enforcement. How would anyone prove that a dog had been tethered for 6-7 consecutive hours? Are they going to send law enforcement officers to go sit outside people's houses just to watch how long the dog is on a tether? Do they not have other crine to deal with that might be a little more important? Or are they going to use taxpayers dollars to hire people specifically to monitor this?

I think it should be no unattended tethering. In other words, if you are not home to make sure the dog is ok, or not barking the whole time, or getting teased, then it's not tethered. Our neighbor used to tie their dog outside all the time, (actually, lived next to another person years ago, same thing) and she'd bark her head off night and day to the point we never used our yard. Or neighborhood kids would tease her....

Animal control was always out writing tickets, but the people would just ignore the doorbell when they rang it. So it was a cycle, the people always let the dog bark non-stop. To me removing the dog would be kinder than risking having someone in the neighborhood 'quiet' the dog themselves (several neighbors we talked to said they had considered doing 'something' since the city wouldn't).

And easier to police, if the dog is tied up and nobody is home, then the dog is removed. No waiting or prooving that the dog was out for X number of hours.

Lana

Honestly, IDK. Probably neighbor statements. Which sucks, and hard to PROVE, but not impossible I'd think.

What would the ACO be dealing with that's more important than neglect? Other than abuse, which is often just as hard to prove.

How does anyone prove prolonged neglect or abuse of dogs? Proving prolonged tethering is the same as proving prolonged denial of food and water. If you're concerned about a dog, you spend some time observing and if you observe neglect, you call AC. AC comes and investigates and talks to the owners.

I don't get the big hate towards anti-tethering laws. All of them that I'm aware of have time limits associated with them, it's not that you can never put a dog on a tie-out ever. I use tie-outs for my dogs right now because our fence has some holes that can't be fixed until the spring and even if PA's anti-tether law had passed, I'd be in full compliance with it because I don't leave them out on their tie-outs for hours and hours and hours. But I fully support laws that ban 24/7 tethering. Spending it's entire life on the end of a chain is no life for a dog. A tether is a tool that can be used irresponsibly, or responsibly and just because people will do the same thing with a fence (neglect their dog) does not mean that neglecting a dog on a tether becomes okay.