Dog Tethering Now Illegal In Fort Worth

[The Straight Story]

Dog Tethering Now Illegal In Fort Worth
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―

It's now illegal to tie up your dog in Fort Worth.

On Tuesday the city council passed an ordinance that makes it illegal to tether an unattended dog.

The city says dogs that are kept tied are more aggressive. It cited a study that says dogs which are kept tied are nearly three times more likely to bite people than dogs which are not tied.

The new ordinance allows tying of dogs in certain circumstances when the owner is present. They include:

* A lawful animal event
* A city dog park
* Veterinary treatment
* Grooming
* Training
* Law enforcement activity.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/dog.tethering.fort.2.635605.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Glad my brother in law doesn't have dogs

Now if they tell him he has to tether his cats.....or make them do anything they don't want to do......

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Good for them..It is a dangerous and inhumane practice.

[DemGa]

3. It's also very sad to see a dog live its life on a chain

in the freezing cold, rain, and heat. And this, while his idiot "owners" sit inside giving it no thought whatever.

[The Straight Story]

5. Yes indeed, pisses me off to no end

why get a pet just to chain it up??? Unless it has something to do with some kinky BDSM thig and the 'pet' is a person ;)

Don't ask.

[Warpy]

9. Have you checked the price of fences lately?

That's why people keep a poor dog chained in the yard during the day while they're at work. They can't afford to fence the yard. They can't leave the dog indoors while they're gone because the dog gets bored and lonely and destroys things. Such people really shouldn't have dogs, but they never realize that part.

It's an awful practice. The local Humane Association won't allow people with unfenced yards to adopt dogs because it does make them aggressive to be chained up all day.

[RedShoesBlueState]

18. Crates

While I don't really like crates myself, and my dogs roam freely in the house and go outside through a dog door at will -- all the experts say crates are humane, and that dogs can be content in them. I think they're far preferable to chaining, which tends to breed agression. I know...seems counterintuitive, as it seems to me to be more confining. But...that's what they say.

[Warpy]

20. I thought of that, as well as a small fenced dog run.

Anything seems to be better than leaving a bored, lonely dog outside on a chain.

[roguevalley]

22. people have no business getting a dog if they can't take care of

it. its like anything. Do it right or don't do it. I have a six foot fence that cost me through the ass but I got it to keep the moose out of my yard and killing my dogs. I put off getting other things until the fence was paid for.

[JeanGrey]

13. Ok. I don't understand either why someone wants a dog that

stays outside 100% of the time, and they rarely see. Our dog (like our cat) sleeps in the bed with us every night. We love both of them. I wouldn't have a dog if I had to tie it up outside or keep it out there all the time. Okay, I'm donning my flame suit.

By the way here's one of my babies:

[RedShoesBlueState]

19. I'm wearing asbestos, too

I agree. (Although mine don't sleep with me. Buddy owns my couch, however.)

[JeanGrey]

21. :-) My dog owns everything. Even to the point of scooting

me out of the bed, ha ha.

[Mythsaje]

4. I recommended this...BUT

The issue isn't tethered dogs, really, it's socialization. My best friend doesn't have a yard and he puts his dog out on a long lead when he goes outside. The dog LIVES inside, but spends as much time as he likes outside on the lead.

The problem they're trying to address stems from people who leave their dogs tethered in the yard and give them no meaningful human contact. As usual, the "law" misses the damn point.

[JackintheGreen]

8. I would agree

I have 3 dogs and an unfenced yard in a close neighborhood. Two of my dogs will stay in the yard of their own accord (and this had been tested many times), but my hound mix will wander all over the damn place. I can let them out to play, but I have to <wince> tether my hound, whether I'm in the yard or not. God help me I should want to do the dishes or put away groceries while they play.

My neighbors, on the other hand, just got a pit mix that they NEVER interact with, except to yell at, and they leave it chained in their FENCED yard all day long.

This law strikes me as another example of a well-intentioned law that misses the point, punishes good owners with lives outside of pet ownership, and really does nothing to curb bad behavior.

[Mythsaje]

11. Precisely the problem.

I am continually frustrated by the "there should be a law" crowd who thinks a complex subject can be dealt with by simple fiat. The issue is educating people about dogs and their requirements--social, dietary, etc... and making sure the people actually "get" it.

[displacedtexan]

6. Good! The neighbors behind my brother's house...

keep a watch dog on a chain night and day.

In a tiny little yard.

Poor thing.

Thanks for posting this. I'll send it to my brother.

[hedgehog]

7. The law needs a little fine tuning.

We often tether our dogs outside on a 75 foot chain especially if we're working in the yard. We don't have a fenced area tha large. It gives the dogs an opportunity to play chase the chickens. These dogs also have free access to a small outdoor pen and spend most of their time inside with us. They get walked though our woods frequently.

We also had a dog who spent several years living on our side porch. She preferred to be tethered there and only moved indoors once she reached middle age. Her fur was so thick that when the snow fell on her, it didn't melt. You'd see a mound of snow in the morning that had a dog sleeping inside it. She also got walked daily and enjoyed being tethered in the side yard on the long chain.

[HereSince1628]

10. Geez. I hope they have more than a single study behind them.

Putting dogs & CATS on tethers is the law up here. Having a fence tall enough to keep a dog from going over it requires a zoning exception because tall fences are seen as potentially interfering with fire-fighting and law enforcement.

[VotesForWomen]

15. i don't care whether the study is correct or not, the practice is inhumane, to put it mildly,

and when we treat living, thinking, feeling animals (man's best friend, no less) like that, it can't be good for the human race.

[Mythsaje]

16. Did you read my post earlier in the thread?

The problem isn't tying the dogs out--the only wise choice if you don't have a fenced yard, but LEAVING them there and denying them proper socialization. If the dogs get to wander around on a long lead as they like, and come back in when they're ready, it's NOT ill treatment at all.

[EFerrari]

12. Best thing I've ever seen out of FW. Good!

:kick:

[VotesForWomen]

14. praise be to god. i've seen so many dogs tied out in below zero, windy weather

here in SD (on my deliveries), and many of them are not cold-weather dogs. the penalty for animal abuse needs to be seriously increased.

[RedShoesBlueState]

17. Wonderful

My very first post on DU gets to be about one of my favorite things: dogs. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing they're doing in Fort Worth. I think one of the saddest things in the world is seeing a lonely, chained dog in a yard -- his people snug and warm inside, while he is left alone to shiver. Dogs are PACK animals, for one thing. They need the company of their pack, and they should be able to be inside with their pack. But for people who, for whatever reason, can't bring their dogs inside, the very least they can do is allow them to roam a fenced yard, and not be tethered to a pole. One of my rescued dogs was actually rescued from a horrible situation -- the rescuers found her chained to a fully-ablaze house trailer, on a five foot chain. She would have burned to death had they not come along and rescued her. She went from a miserable life to a pampered one, as she deserves. Sweetest, most loving temperment in the world, and all she wants is to be petted. Starved of it for years, no doubt.

Why do people have dogs if they don't want to give them the love they deserve (in return for the love they give, so willingly?)

[roguevalley]

23. I don't know, hon, but maybe they can find out in their next life. :)

Welcome to DU. What kind of pup do you have. I have (had) five dachshunds. Four now. SNIFFLE!

[Liberal In Texas]

24. Welcome to DU.

I'm in Dallas and agree that it's great that FW is looking out for our hairy friends.

Here's my little pooch...




...watch it, she'll love you to death...

[Mind_your_head]

25. I don't expect much from texas.......

florida neither. <----- I can tawk beter en that, but I dow'n haf 2, caws they down deserve much bett'er. I haf know respect for them atall! D*mn Inbreeeeeders (an *i& am not bee-ing sarcast9c)

[Liberal In Texas]

26. From Texas: Plan of action...One more Nightcap. Then coffee.

Tomorrow morning, some more coffee. Juice. Bacon and eggs. Toast with jam. Vitamin B-Complex with C.

A nap.

You might try getting out more and maybe find a girlfriend. Or just some friends.

OH! Also try reading books for fun. We do that here in Texas, believe it or not. You learn things from books.

(We also know about how to use capital keys on the computer keyboard at the appropriate times and can communicate it simple declarative sentences..)