Amend Miami-Dade County Anti-Tethering Ordinance

This petition serves to gather support to amend Miami-Dade County's new Anti-Tethering Ordinance. After dealing with a repeat offender over the last few months who refuses to untie his dog and does not care about the fines he has received from MDAS, I have come to conclude that this law does not have teeth it desperately needs. Miami-Dade Animal Services has been doing all they can for this dog, but their hands are tied because of the way the law was written.

Continuous tethering of a dog is an act of animal cruelty and should be treated as such.

As quoted from The Humane Society's website:
"In addition to the psychological damage wrought by continuous chaining, dogs forced to live on a chain make easy targets for other animals, humans, and biting insects. A chained animal may suffer harassment and teasing from insensitive humans, stinging bites from insects, and, in the worst cases, attacks by other animals. Chained dogs are also easy targets for thieves looking to steal animals for sale to research institutions or to be used as training fodder for organized animal fights. Finally, dogs' tethers can become entangled with other objects, which can choke or strangle the dogs to death."

We, the undersigned believe that the Miami-Dade County Commission must amend the law as follows:

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Section 2. Section 8CC-10 of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 8CC-10. Schedule of civil penalties.

The following table shows the sections of this Code, as they may be amended from time to time, which may be enforced pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; and the dollar amount of civil penalty for the violation of these sections as they may be amended.

The "descriptions of violations" below are for informational purposes only and are not meant to limit or define the nature of the violations or the subject matter of the listed Code sections, except to the extent that different types of violations of the same Code section may carry different civil penalties. For each Code section listed in the schedule of civil penalties, the entirety of that section may be enforced by the mechanism provided in this Chapter 8CC, regardless of whether all activities proscribed or required within that particular section are described in the "Description of Violation" column. To determine the exact nature of any activity proscribed or required by this Code, the relevant Code section must be examined.

Code Section
Description of Violation
Civil Penalty
>>5-21
Unlawful tethering of dog - First Offense
Warning with 30 day correction period

Unlawful tethering of dog Second Offense
$100.00 and an additional 15 day correction period.

Unlawful tethering of dog - Third Offense
$500.00

Unlawful tethering of a dog - Each Subsequent Offense
$500.00 & One count of Animal Cruelty ($500 fine (plus a $10.00 surcharge) and/or imprisonment for up to 60 days).

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Note:  Words underlined are additions.

This petition serves to gather support to amend Miami-Dade County's new Anti-Tethering Ordinance. After dealing with a repeat offender over the last few months who refuses to untie his dog and does not care about the fines he has received from MDAS, I have come to conclude that this law does not have teeth it desperately needs. Miami-Dade Animal Services has been doing all they can for this dog, but their hands are tied because of the way the law was written.

Continuous tethering of a dog is an act of animal cruelty and should be treated as such.

As quoted from The Humane Society's website:
"In addition to the psychological damage wrought by continuous chaining, dogs forced to live on a chain make easy targets for other animals, humans, and biting insects. A chained animal may suffer harassment and teasing from insensitive humans, stinging bites from insects, and, in the worst cases, attacks by other animals. Chained dogs are also easy targets for thieves looking to steal animals for sale to research institutions or to be used as training fodder for organized animal fights. Finally, dogs' tethers can become entangled with other objects, which can choke or strangle the dogs to death."

We, the undersigned believe that the Miami-Dade County Commission must amend the law as follows:

*******************************
Section 2. Section 8CC-10 of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 8CC-10. Schedule of civil penalties.

The following table shows the sections of this Code, as they may be amended from time to time, which may be enforced pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; and the dollar amount of civil penalty for the violation of these sections as they may be amended.

The "descriptions of violations" below are for informational purposes only and are not meant to limit or define the nature of the violations or the subject matter of the listed Code sections, except to the extent that different types of violations of the same Code section may carry different civil penalties. For each Code section listed in the schedule of civil penalties, the entirety of that section may be enforced by the mechanism provided in this Chapter 8CC, regardless of whether all activities proscribed or required within that particular section are described in the "Description of Violation" column. To determine the exact nature of any activity proscribed or required by this Code, the relevant Code section must be examined.

Code Section
Description of Violation
Civil Penalty
>>5-21
Unlawful tethering of dog - First Offense
Warning with 30 day correction period

Unlawful tethering of dog Second Offense
$100.00 and an additional 15 day correction period.

Unlawful tethering of dog - Third Offense
$500.00

Unlawful tethering of a dog - Each Subsequent Offense
$500.00 & One count of Animal Cruelty ($500 fine (plus a $10.00 surcharge) and/or imprisonment for up to 60 days).

***********************************************
Note:  Words underlined are additions.