City following growing theory that tethering makes pets more hostile

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

Irving residents accustomed to tying their dogs up and leaving them unattended in their yards could soon face misdemeanor charges. The Irving City Council is expected to vote today on an ordinance that would criminalize tethering unattended dogs – any time, any place.

Irving animal services manager Fred Sanderson admits the ordinance – believed to be the first of its kind for a North Texas city – is strict.

But he also said the city is getting ahead of a growing national faction of dog lovers, humane groups and lawmakers who believe that tethering dogs can make them more aggressive.

"There is a Texas-wide movement, and it's really all over the country," Mr. Sanderson said. "It's very progressive."

Irving residents Dale and Kristi McKenzie, whose 8-year-old son, Shane, was attacked by a tethered dog earlier this year, plan to voice their support for the ordinance at today's council meeting.

Shane spent a week in the hospital after an Akita mix jumped him when he went in its yard to retrieve a basketball. He's since had eight surgeries and doesn't like being around dogs.

"If I had known about this dog, my son would have never been down there," Mrs. McKenzie said.

Irving's proposed ordinance goes beyond a state law that went into effect in September that specifies how dogs can be tied up. It also limits the time period that dog owners can tether their pets to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The state Legislature this year also made it easier to prosecute owners of dogs who kill or seriously injure people. That law provides for some of the nation's stiffest dog-bite penalties.

The Austin City Council this year passed a tougher anti-tethering ordinance similar to Irving's. It went into effect Oct. 1. Last month, the Grand Prairie City Council passed an ordinance that says owners can tether their pets for only three hours during a 24-hour period.

"Everybody's going to be coming up with something in one form or another to comply with state law," said Jay Sabatucci, southwest regional program manager for the Humane Society of the United States.

And it's not just Texas and its cities looking at anti-tethering measures. California passed a law last year that, like Grand Prairie's, prohibits tethering dogs for more than three hours. Pennsylvania legislators are considering a bill that limits how long dogs can be tethered.

Anti-tethering bills in states including Rhode Island and Maine, meanwhile, have failed to pass.

Several animal control officials and nonprofits that handle pets believe that tethering dogs for extended periods of time is inhumane. Among other things, they say, it creates a negative emotional and psychological environment for animals that are hard-wired to be social. They also say tethered dogs are more likely to attack because they are more aggressive and territorial.

"A dog stuck on a chain is not a member of our family; it's a watchdog," Mr. Sabatucci said. "It's a different mindset."

A few years ago, Tammy Grimes started a grass-roots effort to educate neighbors on the effects tethering has on a dog's mentality and behavior.

"If you live next to a chained dog, it's so understandable," she said. "A lot of people who don't see it on a daily basis don't understand what the dog goes through."

Today, her Pennsylvania-based group Dogs Deserve Better tracks city ordinances and state bills on anti-tethering around the country and asks people to voice their support of the measures to elected officials.

The group also has an initiative called Mothers Against Dog Chaining, a coalition of moms whose children have been injured or killed by tethered dogs. Ms. Grimes said that while tethered dogs are typically unable to get out of their yards, nothing prevents people from going into them.

"A child doesn't understand property lines," she said. "All they see is a dog, and they just want to pet a dog."

But not all animal groups agree with anti-tethering laws. American Kennel Club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson agrees that tethered dogs should be comfortable, have access to water and shelter and be paid plenty of attention without being left on a chain all day. She said some owners tether their dogs because they don't have fences but are still loving, caring pet owners.

"You're trying to target the irresponsible dog owner who may be abusing use of tethering, but what happens is the dog owners who know how to use it correctly are penalized or punished," she said.

Ms. McKenzie, whose son was attacked this year, said she wants the Irving council to pass the ban tonight. She said that it's been a tough several months for her family, but she's just glad Shane survived.

"He's still traumatized of dogs, but he's very lucky," she said.

And Texas' new anti-tethering law could get even tougher in the future.

Erin Colletti Tresner is a legislative aide for state Rep. Buddy West, who authored the law limiting tethering hours in the state. She said the current law refrained from banning tethering altogether because Mr. West, R-Odessa, wanted to educate people about how extensive tethering affects dogs. She said staffers in Mr. West's office plan to tweak the current law and make it stricter.

"We got a lot accomplished in the beginning, but we still feel like we have more to do," she said. "The animal groups couldn't believe we were already doing this. It's really a new thing."