Across the country, many towns, cities, and counties are taking part in a movement to promote better animal welfare.  They are enacting ordinances making it illegal to tether a dog outside unattended.  While it has already become law in some places, it is spreading to be the law in all places.

Chaining a dog or any animal to a fixed object in a permanent manner is wrong and cruel.  Dogs are among the most social creatures on the face of the earth.  They crave contact with other beings, especially their families.  You have probably noticed that I rarely refer to humans as dog or pet owners, but rather their family, because that is what we are, family.  We are not meant to be tied up outside away from human contact.  Can you imagine what a dog in that situation must think?  His scenery never changes, and the only attention he gets is when someone comes out to throw a bowl of food at him.  If he is one of the “lucky” members of the chain gang, perhaps someone gives him clean water a few times during the month, allowing rainwater to suffice in between.

Would you want to live like that?  I bet your answer is no, and some may trivialize the situation by saying, “Oh, it is just dog. What is the big deal?”  Just like you, a dog is a being that feels pain, cold, heat, hunger, frustration, anxiety and loneliness.  Imagine what would happen to someone who treated a child the way many “outside” dogs are.  The parents would be jailed for neglect.  They would be taken into homes and businesses, because it is wrong to leave a human in such a state.  The only expectation that these do-gooders have is a little gratitude or a little praise.  Chances are, that a human will take your good deeds and never look back.  No one would leave a human to suffer any of the stresses that these animals endure. The dog will be there through it all.  He cures his own anxiety, frustration and loneliness by providing companionship to his human.  The pain, the cold, the heat and the hunger?  He will bear it all to provide for his human.

Some of the arguments used by those who oppose the anti-tethering ordinances include

1. The owners cannot keep them in the house or apartment they are renting.
2. The dog is not housebroken.
3. The dog was barking too much.
4. The owners think “It’s just a dog.”

My responses, in order, to these arguments are quite simple.

1. Move.  When the owners moved to the house or apartment, they knew that a dog was not allowed.  If they moved there while they were already in possession of the dog, shame on them.  If they acquired the dog while they were living there, why did they choose to get a dog?
2. Train him.  I know several potty training resources off hand.  In fact, one merely has to click here to find one of the best ones I know of.
3. Putting a dog outside does not solve the barking problem.  It merely exacerbates it.  Outside, there are more stimuli and reasons for a dog to bark.
4. If “it’s just a dog,” why do they choose to sleep indoors sheltered from the rain, snow, cold, and heat?

Regardless of geography, we must stand together to stop the chaining and tethering of animals.  We are not lawn ornaments, and we certainly cannot protect anything tied to a chain all the time.  Take a few minutes to visit the best resource of anti-chaining information on the Internet.  Then, take a look around your own neighborhood to see for yourself how many people tether their dogs outside and thus, much support is needed to end a chaining ban for dogs.

Here in Georgia, I have a lot of work to do.  We have nearly 160 counties, but only the counties of Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, Clarke, Bibb, Chatham, Cherokee, Douglas, Gwinnett, Liberty, and Rockdale currently have bans against dog chaining.  If you are a fellow Georgia resident and your county is not listed, you know what you need to do.  If you are reading this in another state, contact your county or parish government to inquire whether or not there is a ban.  If the answer is no, get busy!

A small note about this cause:  the signature color is red, so every time you hold or participate in an event in support of a chaining ban, wear your red proudly.  You can even use the color to signify your unity at local government meetings to show your support like we did when we supported the tethering ban in Fulton County, Georgia earlier this year.  Universally, red signifies stop, and enough red will cause politicians to stop and hear you message!

The late Paul Harvey says, “Ever occur to you why some of us can be this much concerned with animal suffering? Because government is not. Why not? Animals don’t vote.”  Lucky for us, animal lovers do, and their numbers grow everyday!