Breaking the Chains
www.registerbee.com
March 19, 2006, DANVILLE, VIRGINIA. - Jennifer Watts has taken a particular interest in two dogs that live in her Schoolfield neighborhood.
One appears to be a shepherd mix and is tan in color, Watts said. The other is darker and resembles a rottweiler mix. No matter what time of day Watts drives or walks by the home where the dogs live, one thing never changes.
The dogs are chained.
“I drive by them every day, two or three times a day,” Watts said.
According to officials with the Danville Area Humane Society, chained dogs are the No. 1 reason they are called to intervene in animal incidents.
Those who adopt through the Humane Society must sign a contract that says they will not chain their dogs. State code requires those who keep their dogs on chains to use a chain three times the length of their animal, from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail.
Still, some say these requirements are not enough to cease chaining or the cruelty and neglect that result from the practice.
On Monday, members of the Humane Society’s board of directors will discuss plans to get all dogs off chains. One such plan, devised by Humane Society Executive Director Paulette Dean and a few other board members, would have all dogs in Danville off chains within 10 years.
Dean spoke briefly about the plan during a March 13 meeting to discuss animal issues.
The proposal would involve lobbying Danville City Council to adopt an anti-chaining ordinance. Within 90 days of passing the ordinance, all owners who keep their dogs on chains would be required to register them free of charge.
After the 90-day period, no dogs would be allowed kept on chains.
“If they moved or if they gave the dog away, then you would have to make other arrangements,” said board president Lynn Shelton. “You couldn’t keep it on a chain.”
No new registrations will be allowed when the registered dogs die.
Shelton said this solution addresses the No. 1 reason people give for keeping their dogs chained: the cost of providing a lot or fenced yard for the animal.
Shelton said the plan would not place any unnecessary burden on those who keep their dogs on chains, but would instead allow them to plan ahead if they wanted to purchase a new animal under the ordinance.
Dean said Friday that the proposal was only one suggestion, and that the board could choose to entertain other options.
Watts first began noticing the dogs in her neighborhood last summer. She pays close attention to them, whether she is driving past them or walking her own dog.
One is chained to a stake in the ground, Watts said, adding she has never seen the other dog move more than about two feet from its doghouse, she said. Most of the time, she said, the dog just rests on top of the house.
Watts has never seen the dogs being walked, nor has she seen anyone outside playing with them. When she walks her own dog past them, they growl and bark.
Frustrated, Watts has called both the police and the humane society numerous times about the dogs. It has been less than a month since she made her last complaint.
She understands if finances prevent the dogs’ owners from properly providing for them, but does not understand why they would take on the burden if they cannot afford it.
“Why do you want an extra expense if it’s just a burden to you?” Watts asked.
Proper animal care, Watts said, is similar to social problems such as domestic violence and child abuse. You must continue talking about it to keep it from being ignored.
Shelton, a court-appointed humane investigator, said chained dogs are directly related to the animal cruelty cases he sees. The naturally social creatures become territorial and aggressive, thus inciting violent incidents such as the ones police and humane society staffers battled last summer, he said.
Chained dogs are also more likely to produce more unwanted litters of puppies, suffer from imbedded collars or choke to death, Shelton said.
Contact Jonnelle Davis at jdavis@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7984.
