Help Outlaw Chaining Dogs - York County Council Meeting 8/18/08

Hi Meg, I have been posting notices about this meeting too. Hopefully there will be a lot of people there! My husband and I and a few of my friends will be there. My husband and I actually live in Chester county but I would really like to get this law passed in Chester too, so hopefully I can learn what I need to do to get it started and in the works. I will look for you tomorrow.

Meg- I am sorry but I don't think putting dogs on chains is a bad thing. Also because you have your dog on a chain does not mean you fight them like it seems this ban is suggesting. I had my Pitbull on a chain when he was outside....The nicest dog you would of ever met. (Yes it's a Pitbull)

As far as the whole "Anyone who owns a fighting dog is going to have it in some "state of being taken care of" whether they love it or not because in order for the dog to be successful i.e, win fights & make money, it must be taken care of." again I disagree. Healthy well fed dogs do not perform well in fights as the main reason pits get "hungry" for the fight is because they are actually very hungry, fighters are often not even given water on a regular basis.... I wonder if this person was targeted because of the breed of dog or if he really was fighting them because unless his dog was the biggest baddest dog at the fights he would have scars on him win or lose, and if he had obvious fight scars there is no way he would of gotten his dogs back.

Meg- Unfortunately for several breeds there are no other options other than heavy chains. Hercules (who weighed 65lbs) absolutely hated my 4-wheelers... The chain that he was on in the pictures I have on here still was not big enough for him as he snapped the chain, latched onto the rim of my 4-wheeler while I was going 40 mph! I didn't know he even snapped the chain until I heard a thumping noise while I was cruising looked down and there he was spinning with my tires lol My cousin had a 195 lb (at 9 months old) Rottweiller, he snapped every chain, and every other restraint possible until he put him on a huge logging chain, his favorite chew tow was a full railroad tie! Also using a chain isn't so bad when the dog is hooked up with a regular collar not the chain wrapped around their neck, which anything even a collar that is never loosened up will have the same horrific results as a chain directly wrapped around the neck and never loosened.

Dog fighting here is very big also, unfortunately it is not policed and the police don't care anyways, as they won't do anything about it. But really they don't have the time to do it even if they actually did care because we average 3 murders a week (old #s anyways) and the last 3 years we have been #3 in major crime in the nation. There is a guy who fights pits that lives next to on of my cousins, his giant pit doesn't even have scars on him, but several of his other ones do.... The gave him a fine for not having a breeders license or kennel license and having more than 2 dogs, and no shot records/ dog licenses (county ordinance requires any home having more than 2 dogs, must have one or the other).

Also... If they can't put them on chains they will just do what many do around here and lock them in small cages in the basement until fight night.

Meg...In the case of the pit bull owner, perhaps your county should limit the amount of animals within a home.  Many towns have ordinances limiting quanity, large amounts would require licensing as a kennel.

Regarding tethering...when I was a Housing director for the Navy, there was a contoversy over chaining of dogs.  Some time ago a child was mauled by a dog that broke from a chain.  Studies have shown that dogs chained become frustrated and more aggressive.  They are better off in a fenced yard allowing them freedom of movement.  It became policy at most installations that tethering be banned.  Additionally aggressive violent animals were not tolerated as well. 

Having animals requires assuming responsibility for them, and that means proper care and training. When working as a Housing manager, dogs were not the problem, just some of their owners.