Pet Anti-Tethering Ordinance (Gainesville, Ocala, Christmas: crime, neighborhood, taxes)

[Florida Gentleman]

On Tuesday night at 9 pm the Humane Society of Marion Countty is going to request an anti-tethering ordinance at the Marion County Board of Commissioners meeting and they need all the support they can get. So, unless you believe that dogs should be allowed to be chained up outside for 24 hours a day lend your voice of support at the meeting to help force irresponsible owners to provide a better life for these poor animals who have no other voice than yours.

[dontaskwhy]

While I wouldn't want un-tethered pets wandering around the neighborhood at all times of day and night, not all people using a tether are abusing their animal(s). Should be a case by case basis and would be difficult to enforce.

Passing such an ordinance is just asking for trouble in my opinion. I am a passionate pet owner and a very responsible pet owner. My interpretation on the subject will vary from yours and that is OK. All pet owners need to be responsible for their pets and need to treat them humanely and with respect.

[jbevard1]

Originally Posted by dontaskwhy

While I wouldn't want un-tethered pets wandering around the neighborhood at all times of day and night, not all people using a tether are abusing their animal(s). Should be a case by case basis and would be difficult to enforce.

Passing such an ordinance is just asking for trouble in my opinion. I am a passionate pet owner and a very responsible pet owner. My interpretation on the subject will vary from yours and that is OK. All pet owners need to be responsible for their pets and need to treat them humanely and with respect.

I agree with the above. It has to be case-by-case. Of course, if you make it case-by-case, then we have to ask who is going to pay for the enforcement. If an owner has a dog tethered 24/7 in all weather, sure something has to be done. However, owners who tether their dog simply for company coming over, etc., are not animal abusers. When done correctly, tethering is no different than crate training, which the Humane Society fully promotes.

[OcalaLiving]

Ack...
tethering. animals in crates. FULL TIME???. putting an animal in a backyard and never ever interacting with it. ABOMINABLE. ppl who do that should NEVER be allowed to own an animal.

Have to agree with dontaskwhy and jbevard tho'. They're right on target. Case by case. Tethering and using crates are necessities for given situations. 24/7..uh, no. But I do think this could be a good law depending upon how it's crafted and I would need to read the verbiage.

There have been too many instances where 'hoarders' and 'rescues' have dozens to 100s of animals crated/tethered and enforcement even in those cases need to have a law or ordinance to stand upon to step in to remove those animals. The current laws aren't robust enough to shut some of these places down and to remove animals from even individual abusive/neglectful situations. This could give them the teeth to do it.

Like I said, I want to read the fine print for the ordinance. I'll be watching this carefully and will probably be there Tuesday night.

[Florida Gentleman]

The problem here is that your responses rely upon the pet owner being "responsible" and the reality is that many aren't and because of that there is suffering. Crating your pet while out certainly isn't abuse but tethering by chain for an extended period is. It's an irresponsible way to avoid getting a fence and shifts the responsibility of the welfare of the pet to neighbors having to report the animal abuse to authorities....if they care to get involved. Otherwise without an ordinance the Humane Society would be forced to randomly roam the streets searching for abuse situations when they have neither the time nor the funds.....unless you want to fund them with your taxes ? Seems that everyone is against animal abuse......until it might actually cost them something. When is the last time anyone who posted on this thread made a donation to their local animal shelter to help cover the cost of the abused animals that would be confiscated for abusive tethering ?

[OcalaLiving]

Actually..about 20 mins ago I donated in a can that is outside the window @Brewster's Ice Cream.....I sent in $ during Christmas and I gave all of the birthday money my father sent me to the Humane Society for the last several years (and that's actually a fair amount). I have brought in numerous cats to Operation Catnip to be spayed/neutered, transported dozens between rescues, and personally have adopted 3 feral animals. I also shop often at the Humane Society Thrift Shop once a month...sometimes more often. It's not a lot, but YES, I do support local rescues in both Gainesville and Ocala) and the Humane Society.

You really can't equate someone who doesn't support the law in it's entirety with someone who is otherwise ignorant or doesn't monetarily support eliminating animal abuse. Just saying....

I think it was just suggested that perhaps a whole hog law that is all enclusive may not be entirely practical. I do admit I still have to read it to know the details in the fine print..... ; D.

[Irishtom29]

I don't know about animal abuse but this thread has some ellipsis abuse.

[Florida Gentleman]

The problem here is that nothing short of a "whole hog" ordinance will prevent dogs being chained outside 24/7 and if its an ordinance then noral police patrols can enforce it as its not like Ocala is rampant with crime and they have no time. I also donate and drop food off too but the reality is we are too few and there are just too many irresponsible dog owners that are in the news every night in abuse stories to trust them to do the right thing....if you have any ideas on how to prevent 24/7 tethering without an ordinance I'd be interested to hear them ?

[jbevard1]

Sorry, you lost my support for a blanket law. Laws, in general, are rarely meant to be blanket and the spirit of the law must remain in case by case. If a no tethering law was actually enforced, then I also question if the same people would just get more crates to keep the animals indoors and maybe slap on bark collars so they do not alert neighbors. Then we would make more laws.

I know that this is just one issue, but I really think we are trying to solve problems from the wrong end. We no longer try to actually educate our youth to think for themselves. We no longer have a national effort to instill morals nor do we look at the causes of people's inhumane behaviors. When there is a problem, we just write a new law. Then, that new law often times goes unenforced anyway. I still see people texting while driving, speeding, etc., etc.

I truly love my dog, but my boys are my priority in life. In fact, my boys are one of the reasons we have a dog, as I think a dog helps shape a boy. I think if we spent more time paying attention to our human needs, animal abuse would have a major decline.

Just my thoughts.

[Florida Gentleman]

Mr. Jbevard: Your comment only underlines my point......many of those that have dogs are too busy paying attention to their human needs and that's why their pet dog, who's supposed to be shaping their children's lives, is chained to a tree in the back yard.
Yes, texting while driving is just plain dumb but people are dumb and while we probably can't eliminate all the dumb people from texting while driving with a "law" to ignore the problem and do nothing is even more dumb.