New Billboard in Peoria Makes Case Against Chaining Dogs
www.hoinews.com
By
Jennifer Speiser
November 29, 2004, PEORIA, ILLINOIS -- Millions of dogs across the country spend their entire lives attached to a chain, but a new billboard in town may have you breaking the chain for your pet.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, unleashed a new billboard Monday urging dog owners to rethink chaining up man’s best friend. The billboard reads, “Life Sentence... No Parole - A chained dog can only watch as life goes by.”
The message is that chaining up dogs is cruel. PETA hopes the image of the chained dog on the billboard will help educate dog owners of the negative effects of chaining their pet up.
Just last April, an eight-year-old Creve Coeur boy was attacked by a chained dog in a neighbor’s backyard.
PETA members say this happened because the chained dog felt defenseless and acted aggressively. The organization says keeping your dogs indoors is the best option; a fenced in yard is second best.
www.pjstar.com
By Jennifer Rigg
December 4, 2004, PEORIA - A new billboard north of Peoria contends that chaining up dogs can make them dangerous, and the animal-rights group behind it says a Creve Coeur boy is proof. Mark Wilson, 9, was attacked in April by a Husky chained in a yard, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that chain is what caused the dog to so viciously attack.
A new PETA-sponsored billboard along Galena Road just south of Illinois Route 6 shows a dog on a chain with a tag line that reads: "Life Sentence, No Parole. A chained dog can only watch as life goes by."
The purpose of the new campaign is to convince dog owners that chaining animals in a back yard is abusive and can cause aggression toward anyone who comes within its tiny radius, said Dan Paden of PETA.
Wilson knows this aggressiveness all too well. The dog that attacked him was euthanized, but Wilson still bears the scars of the attack on his neck, arms and legs. Before the attack, Wilson was at his grandparents' house on Hawthorne Drive in Creve Coeur awaiting a Cub Scouts meeting. He had been selling candy and decided to make one more trip around the neighborhood.
Wilson doesn't remember the dog coming after him, but he recalls waking up on the ground behind a tree and looking up into the dog's face as it held him by the neck. "I was stunned," the wide-eyed boy said. "I could just see its face. I was probably in shock. I couldn't move."
Wilson suffered 12 bites, some requiring stitches.
The new PETA campaign also comes on the heels of other dog attacks in the Pekin area, but chains were not involved in those cases.
In July, a police officer had to shoot one of two pit bulls that attacked Tyler Byars, then 14. The other dog was euthanized.
The next day, Jarett Lockhart, 6, also of Pekin, was bitten in the arm by another pit bull, which also was euthanized.
About a week ago, 8-year-old Cain Ghidina was attacked in Pekin by a Labrador retriever mixed-breed dog. The boy suffered bites on his face and arm.
So which is worse: Keeping the dog on a chain or allowing it to run free?
"The choice isn't between chaining them up and letting them run loose," Paden said. "One can always fence in their yard or a use a pulley system."
But Paden said dogs can become aggressive for many other reasons."Chaining is just one of the factors that can contribute to the dog's aggression," he said. "Dogs who have never been chained can also attack as well. There are many ways to abuse an animal."
Paden said the breed of the dog is irrelevant. "You can chain up a pit bull and a Pomeranian and they will both eventually act aggressively."
Both the Peoria Animal Welfare Shelter and the Tazewell Animal Protection Society agree with PETA. "We are very opposed to chaining dogs," said Sue Taffar, director of TAPS. "The animal constantly sees things running and happening. They are constantly trying to get to these things and they can't. They can't join in. They come to the end of that chain all the time, and they begin to associate that with pain and frustration."
Kitty Yanko, education director of the Peoria Humane Society, said she saw PETA's campaign as a "positive thing." "Our belief is that its important to confine a dog to a property and keep it safe, but (chaining them) can deprive them of the social interactions they need to be well adjusted canine companions," she said.
