This page is about the dog at the end of a chain, the cruelty they endure, the laws that are supposed to protect them, and what might be done about it. This is intended as Humane Education to further the fight against cruelty and those who perpetuate it. To put it simply, some people get it, and some people don’t. Appreciations to Animal Sheltering.org magazine for the background and general information. I’ll be making heavy use of their introductory
paragraphs and other information in general. You can read the entire article Here: At The End Of The CHAIN. N O T E : The following will consist of several quotes from Animal Sheltering magazine and those will be denoted by being surrounded with <quote> and </quote> tags.
<quote>  More communities are opting for dog chaining laws, but old habits die hard.
When it comes to recognizing the dangers posed by persistent dog chaining, some people get it, and some don’t.
Making her rounds in the nation’s capital, officer Ann Russell of the Washington Humane Society (WHS) has encountered both types. It’s a muggy Tuesday in August as Russell approaches the small backyard of a single-family home in southeast D.C. On a wooden deck off the
home’s second story, she sees a dog tethered by a cable to the railing. The dog barks upon first spotting Russell, then pees nervously when the officer gets closer. The deck is littered with dog poop, and the dog’s water Owners who persistently chain their dogs often neglect them in other ways as well, such as failing to provide proper nutrition. MICHELLE RILEY/
THE HSUS |
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bowl has algae in it. Perhaps most alarmingly, the dog could slip off the
deck and wind up hanging by her neck. (Each year, Russell says, about a half dozen chained dogs in D.C. strangle while tethered.) The home’s occupants are nowhere in sight.
</quote>That dog is seriously malnourished and has been subjected to obvious cruelty. From this view, the water dish looks empty
and there is no sign of food mentioned or visible. Unfortunately I see this kind of thing in our own area. It’s hard to get anything done about it, but YOU and I can if we try! <quote>
The Problems with Chaining Most animal advocates agree that the problem is not the dog tied out for an hour or two while her
owner works nearby in the yard, but rather those dogs subjected to continuous, around-the-clock, isolated chaining—a practice that clashes sharply with their social nature. “What we know is that your dog wants to be with you more than anything in the world,” says Dawn Ashby, the rescue and public liaison for Dogs Deserve Better, an anti-chaining group with
representatives around the country. “… That’s the No. 1 thing—that your dog’s lonely on a chain.” </quote> Further findings from this article: - Dogs are pack animals, and are not meant to live solitary lives. Being chained out back IS a solitary life. And a cruel one.
- Chained dogs tend to be neglected; exposed to extreme weather conditions, confined to yards filled with hazardous debris. Their owners frequently fail to provide proper food, water and shelter for them. A chained dog is almost never a well cared for, beautiful dog. Often the owners are lazy and/or simply ignorant people but in some cases it’s actually done for
“punishment” for some action the dog has absolutely no memory of or even knows he/she did.
- Worms are common in such animals, along with other internal and external parasites. Imagine the agony of a flea and worm infected dog, left to his solitary life 24/7.
- Areas where they can walk quickly get worn down to dirt, devoid of grass or greenery and
which becomes sloppy mud after a rain.
- Neglect leads to even more neglect. The dog isn’t likely to be walked, played with, or any of the normal things any dog craves and which his instinct force him to desire, all because the dog may have become hyper-active due to his being tied.
- Dogs are by nature territorial and studies have shown that chained dogs are more likely to
bite to defend a perceived threat against their meager, constrained turf. They can actually, though no fault of their own, become dangerous even to their owners who then ignore them more and more.
- One study found that chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite than their unchained counterparts. No chain will stop a young child from walking up to a chained dog and trying to
pet it or befriend it. Serious, tragic results are the norm when that happens.
- Chaining isn’t what’s considered to make a dog aggressive; simply put, the chained dog cannot exercise his natural “fight or flee” instinct when threatened and thus must resort to fighting since fleeing isn’t possible.
“<quote>
On the Radar Screen Are we as a nation starting to understand that dogs belong with the family instead of out back on a chain? The signs of progress are undeniable, but so are the indicators that chaining is a firmly entrenched practice. “I definitely think that people are much more aware of it than they were 10 or 15 years ago, and I
think there is less tolerance for abuse of animals,” says Terri Rutter, president and founder of Justice for Dogs in Frederick, Md., a citizens’ group that recently lobbied successfully for a local chaining law. “… Public sentiment changes first, then you’ve got legislation that follows that.” More than 100 jurisdictions in 30-plus states have passed dog chaining laws, says Goldfarb. The
HSUS, which supports ordinances that ban or restrict chaining and showcases sample laws from around the country at humanesociety.org/chainingkit, has had more success in urban and suburban communities than in rural ones, and tends to do better on the coasts than it does in the Midwest, Goldfarb says. Typically passed by city or county governments, chaining ordinances have caught on in localities in some surprising places, he adds, including Georgia and Texas. “It’s definitely a hot issue right now,” he says. “… A lot of people are getting a little more sensible, a little more compassionate about animals, so when they see the chained dog out there it sort of seems inherently wrong to them.” </quote>  Yards strewn with dangerous debris—such as this one in Las Cruces, N.M.—are unfortunately a common habitat for chained dogs, who can strangle if they become entangled.
<quote> What’s an ACO to do?
Animal control officers often encounter chained dogs,and many want to intervene. They can battle abusive chaining with a combination of education and enforcement, Parascandola says. In Oakland, Parascandola’s current jurisdiction, ACOs are backed by a specific law: California’s health and safety code bans chaining dogs to a stationary object,with a few exceptions
. Chaining is allowed, for instance, for up to three hours when a person is performing a temporary outdoor task such as gardening. When Parascandola started his previous job in Washington, D.C., he and his fellow WHS officers didn’t have a chaining law, but they combated chaining using a ban on unnecessary suffering in the city’s animal cruelty code. “Regardless of what your law is, it’s important to explain to people why chaining is wrong,” he says. Even if you have an anti-chaining law on your side, you’ll be more persuasive if you can suggest alternatives to chaining, such as putting a lip on a fence to prevent a dog from escaping. “That’s really … the best way to make changes. What I found was that ultimately when you gave people the information, the people that really wanted their dog and were dedicated to it would do the work.” Humane officers can also combat chaining by keeping a referral list of helpful dog trainers, says Didi Clement, director of Humane Society University and a former ACO. “Of those dog caretakers who chained and were not intending to be abusive, I never met any who had heard of dog trainers who come to one’s home to solve problems,” Clement says. Many pet owners thought chaining
was the only option for protecting their homes, since they had taken their puppies to “obedience school” but still had dogs who soiled the house and ate the window sills. But calling a dog trainer, she asserts, “was a boon and solved some problems.” While working in D.C., Parascandola discovered that chaining is “very contagious [in] either
direction.” If an officer allows a few households to chain their dogs, the entire block will follow. On the other hand, if an officer works with a couple of families to get their dogs off chains—possibly taking the more drastic measure of impounding animals at noncompliant homes—the rest of the neighborhood will fall in line. Ultimately, Parascandola says, the officer needs to strike a balance between educating the
community and enforcing the law. “If you’re telling people, ‘OK, I’ve been out here twice. If I come back again and you haven’t done anything, the dog’s still on a chain, I’m gonna remove him.’ Well, if you say that, you have to come back and remove him. Eventually you have to bring that enforcement to show people that you’re serious,” he says. “… They’ll weed themselves out after
that, and you’ll pretty quickly learn who’s gonna comply Hope and Despair Educating the public about dog chaining can be a long, drawn-out process where the problems are
stubborn and progress is gradual. In Orange County, Fla., animal services officials say Operation Unchain is living up to its name. The public education campaign aims to make residents aware of the county’s law, which since July 2005 has prohibited chaining between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and placed restrictions on the type and length of restraints. On a daily basis, animal control officers spread the word about the rules by placing hangers on
doorknobs. The county also trumpets the ordinance via public service announcements </quote> I’ll sum things up here with a final experience that for me really hit home. There is NO WAY I can understand the mentality or anything about the kind of person depicted in this next quote. It
simply blows my mind away to think that any sentient human being could be so cruel or so ignorant as to let these things happen:
<quote> “I’m more heartbroken now than ever,” says Ashby. In April 2008 she and Dogs Deserve Better
founder Tammy Grimes (who recently changed her name to Tamira Ci Thayne, which roughly translates to “Peaceful Dog Warrior”) toured 12 Southeastern states in 12 days in search of chained dogs. Ashby says she expected some of what she saw: dogs who had no food or water and who never get taken off their chains. But she was especially distressed that she and Grimes, driving around at random, also found
several dogs with embedded collars—indicating the dogs had likely been neglected since they were young, and had been chained without veterinary attention for a long time. “It makes me think how many dogs are out there suffering with embedded collars, and people don’t even know it,” Ashby says. “If we can find them at random that way, it’s just overwhelming.” But Ashby says she is optimistic about the future of the fight against chaining, at least most of the
time. She sees many rescues, hears many “wonderful stories,” and takes heart in knowing that Dogs Deserve Better, which has helped draw national attention to dog chaining, has 150 hard-working volunteer representatives. “People really, really care about this cause, and we’re really ready for it to end,” she notes. “… People … always tell me, ‘Boy, you must really love dogs.’ …
And I always tell them that I don’t love dogs as much as I hate suffering. And these dogs on the end of the chain, they are suffering every day.” AS </quote>
With summer coming, along with the requisite family vacations, storms and occasional miserably hot and oppressive weather, I hope this information has at least made the reader think about the cruelties of chaining dogs and even if their beloved dogs aren’t chained outside 24/7, perhaps consider shorter periods of time on the chain, and be with them more often. And don’t abandon
them just so you can take a vacation or spend a weekend away. Find accommodations for them or be sure they’ll have someone to look after them. They’ll certainly appreciate it, and so will you when you come home to a still well adjusted pet who only wants to be happy and a part of your family. Thanks for taking the time to read this; it’s all important information. Also, if anyone is saying
“there oughta be a law”, there is in some states. There’s a link for laws, and I’ll shortly be adding specific information about those who would chain dogs outside 24/7. You can’t do it in New York State. So if you have the inclination and the want to, feel free to join me in my fight against animal cruelty of all kinds. top | 
