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03/17/2005;
Daily Press; Hirschauer, Sabine
Smithfield
dog owner Danyell Redd doesn't think much about a proposed town
law that may keep her 60-pound, 8-month-old Rottweiler puppy indoors
instead of being in her backyard, tied to a tree with a heavy chain.
"Stupid,"
she said. "Not all dogs are house dogs."
But
more cities and counties are beginning to think differently. Smithfield
could become the 69th locality in the country and the fourth in
Virginia to enact a law that tells dog owners how or if they can
tether their pets. Northampton County and Norfolk have laws. In
January, Virginia Beach City Council made tethering dogs for more
than three hours illegal. Newport News officials may consider some
sort of tethering law this year.
Hampton,
Suffolk and Williamsburg follow state law that allows tethering
but requires dog owners to provide enough food, water and shelter
and enough chain. "Companion animals should be part of the
family," said Mark Kumpf, Newport News Animal Services superintendent,
"and not part of the backyard decoration."
The
number of cities and counties with dog tethering laws increased
nationwide from 41 in 2002 to 68 today.
"It's
a trend nationwide," said Stephanie Shain with the Humane Society
of the United States in Washington.
Animal
cruelty and public safety issues have driven the new regulations.
In
December, a 4-year-old Florida boy was mauled by at least one of
three dogs chained in a backyard. A 1-year-old was killed in Mississippi
last year by a dog that was usually tied up on the porch. A case
in New Jersey in March, in which a woman kept a starving dog tethered
on a cable outside, spawned a public outcry and a change in the
law.
Chained
dogs become more anxious, aggressive and territorial than dogs kept
inside and are nearly three times more likely to bite, according
to a study by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
"Dogs
thrive on human companionship," Shain said. "Dogs outside
don't get a lot of time socializing with people."
Smithfield
Town Councilwoman Wendy Dean proposed the tethering law.
"I
think it's just cruel," Dean said. "If you have a dog,
you need to have a fenced-in area."
Redd,
the Smithfield dog owner, may not support the proposal, but others
wouldn't mind tougher dog rules and regulations. "My dogs are
like my children," Judith Hall said, "and I treat them
that way."
Dean
said she may push for not putting any or a very limited time restriction
on the books.
Norfolk
prohibits people from leaving their dogs tied up longer than 12
hours - which makes it hard to enforce, an animal control officer
said.
"I
don't have officers that sit at somebody's house for 12 hours and
testify in court that the dog never left the chain," said Norfolk
Animal Officer Deborah Michielson.
In
Virginia Beach, where dog owners have a three-hour limit, officials
see the new law as a chance to educate dog owners and get a better
handle on animal cruelty in general. "It opened the door to
look at cases that we normally wouldn't see until it's too late,"
said Wayne Gilbert, superintendent of the Virginia Beach Animal
Control Bureau. "If an animal is outside for a long time, there
is a real good chance that it does not have adequate food and water.
Then we can look at cruelty charges."
Smithfield
will discuss the law again next month. Newport News plans to consider
a tether law sometime this year.
"This
is really about the quality of life of people's pets," said
Kumpf, the Newport News animal control superintendent, "and
there is not much of a life on the end of a chain."
—BY
SABINE C. HIRSCHAUER
Published March 16, 2005
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