BREAK AND BAN THE CHAINS

Who Let The Dogs In?
-by Ginnie Maurer

Is your jurisdiction considering anti-tethering laws? If so, become active. Join with other concerned animal caring citizens to either write an ordinance for your elected officials or meet with them to advise them on not only the need to protect outdoor dogs but also how to go about doing so. Be polite, but be clear%u2014dogs deserve better than life at the end of a chain.

Dogs are pack animals. Whether their pack is made up of two-footed or four-footed creatures, they want to be with others, to form a hierarchy, to share their lives with creatures who respect them for being dogs. Chained dogs rarely get the chance to experience a full canine life. They are not well socialized and can become aggressive because of their isolation.

I could share statistics about how many chained dogs have bitten how many people, usually children. I could describe the horrors of chained dogs who have strangulated themselves on their chains, frozen to death in winter, or suffered heat stroke in summer. I could direct you to websites where you can see photographs of dogs whose lives are one long misery. You can be sympathetic. You can even cry. But unless you act, there will be more pictures, more suffering, more death%u2014but no change.

If we want to see laws changed to protect dogs, we must contact our elected officials to let them know what we want%u2014and how their support of what we want will get them our support on election day.

%u201CI am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.%u201D With the words of Helen Keller ringing in your ears, take action. Speak up for the ones who cannot speak for themselves. One person can make a difference. In fact, one person is often responsible for bringing to the attention of elected officials the dire conditions under which many dogs live.

Regardless of when and where our relationship with dogs began, it%u2019s been going on for centuries. At some point humans and canines decided life together seemed like a good idea. And so, the dog became our %u201Cbest%u201D friend. Yet, if we treated a human best friend the way we treat some dogs, we wouldn%u2019t have any friends at all. While some people look upon the bond between themselves and their dogs with respect, care, and yes, love; others think of %u201Cthat thing%u201D in the house as repugnant. So, the dog gets left outside, tied to a tree, a rusted out car, a rain barrel.

I have never understood why anyone would have a dog they never play with, take for walks, or commune with. Why have a dog? Even those who have working dogs, on farms especially, care for and spend time with their dogs in other than a work relationship. They have built a bond with their dogs. I%u2019m talking about people who get a dog, tie him or her to a tree, and then ignore the dog. Why have a dog?

I have two dogs in my home who came from the outdoors. One was attached to a metal chain weighing twice what she did and another was in a fenced yard. Neither had human contact, except at feeding time when a hand would stretch out from a door and put a bowl of something on the ground. One lived that way for two years; the other for at least four years, maybe longer. When they became part of my household, the one on the chain was totally uncontrollable for about 24 hours; and then when she realized she was safe, she settled down, played with my other dogs, and became the happiest dog I%u2019ve ever known. The other was quite docile when he joined my pack. He wanted nothing more than to drape himself over any warm body who would let him. He had been denied a physical connection with another living, breathing, sentient being all those years.

Contact your elected officials; sign petitions; show up at hearings; call your friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, civic groups, etc. Speak up for the chained dogs of your community. Be their voice in what is ultimately a political process. They don%u2019t vote. You do.

With apologies to Mahatma Gandhi, I end this piece with a simple thought: The greatness of [fill in your jurisdiction] and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Make your jurisdiction great. Support an anti-tethering ordinance. Then, the answer to %u201CWho let the dogs in?%u201D will be, %u201COur community did.%u201D

%u2014Ginnie R. Maurer lives in Falling Waters and can be reached at ginnie.maurer@juno.com or unchainberkeleycounty@comcast.net