pawlaw Break The Silence.
Break The Chains. Under current Florida state law, a dog can be kept chained indefinitely as long as it has food and water. A proposed bill, Dylan’s Dog Chaining Law, is out to change that.
by Anna Cooke
As of October 2020, nineteen Florida counties and cities had passed attended-tethering-only laws, thanks in part to ani- mal advocates including (but not limited to) Renee Rivard, Elizabeth Olson, Amy Wade-Carotenuto, Jennifer Kanady, and Debbie Taylor Darino. The new laws and or ordinances allow tethering, but only if the dog’s caretaker is outside with the dog. Rivard, a member of the League of
Humane Voters-Florida Chapter, and Olson, a volunteer with Pinellas County Animal Services, partnered to have the laws changed in Pinellas County in 2015. Amy Wade-Carotenuto is the executive director of Flagler Humane Society and a board member of Florida Animal Control Association. Jennifer Kanady is founder of K9UnchainUSA and works with advocacy groups across the country to help change laws. Debbie Taylor Darino, an animal advocate and the driving force behind Ponce’s Law, is now working on ordinances within her county of Volusia. She is going city by city, quietly yet assuredly, getting the job done. In 2012, Jacksonville passed an attended-tethering-only
The League of Humane Voters-Florida Chapter has
“The owner must be outside and in visual range of the tethered dog” is the tried and true wording
that most communities are using in the anti-tethering ordinances.
authored a proposed bill called Dylan’s Dog Chaining Law. Law enforcement professionals agree that a well-written dog chaining law is a tool that they can use to crack down on dog fighting. Education is key, say the advocates of the proposed bill. Animal Services Directors in counties that ban unattended teth- ering say that it only takes about five minutes to educate an owner about the dangers of dog chaining and provide alternatives for them. Vague language can create loopholes
in an ordinance for those who chain 24/7. Timed ordinances, which allow unattended tethering, have proven to be
too difficult to enforce. Timed ordinances also do not meet the two goals of protecting the public and the dog. Palm Beach County originally had a timed ordinance and changed it to an attended tethering ordinance when they found that the timed ordinance did not solve the problem.
law just after 17-month-old Dylan Andres was killed by a chained dog in his neighborhood. Often, tethered dogs don’t have adequate food, water and shelter. Since a tethered dog cannot escape danger, they may become defensive and territorial when a human or other animal enters their space.
72 THE NEW BARKER
To keep up with the progress of HB177 Tethering of Domestic Dogs and Cats during the 2021 Florida Legislative Session, follow The New Barker on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter @TheNewBarkerDogMagazine. Also, follow @DylansDogChainingLaw or visit
www.LOHV-FL.org
www.TheNewBarker.com
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