Resident Raises Concern about Chained Dogs
www.hometownlife.com
January 14, 2007, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN - Irene MacColeman isn't looking to get her name in the newspaper or on television, but sometimes, somebody just has to take a stand.
"We just can't care about our own dogs, we have to care about other dogs as well," the Troy resident said at last week's city council meeting.
MacColeman wants the city to create a new ordinance prohibiting the chaining of dogs to a stationary object when outdoors. Currently, such an ordinance doesn't exist, and state law requires only that dogs be tethered on a leash or chain three times the animal's length from nose to base of the tail.
But MacColeman believes Troy shouldn't allow any long-term, outdoor tethering of dogs. "It was much to my shock that the city of Troy doesn't prohibit this in any way," she said last week.
Such an ordinance "is something that other communities are looking at," said city attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm. "That's something to give to the animal control appeal board and they will make a recommendation."
The Animal Control Appeal Board meets as needed, and will likely meet to address MacColeman's concern, Bluhm added.
What prompted MacColeman's recent stand is a dog in her neighborhood she claims is chained to an outdoor dog house 24 hours a day, every day. She believes such treatment is unacceptable for the dog, which she describes as a 7-month-old German Shepherd.
According to the Oakland County Animal Control department, if the animal is kept outside, food, water and shelter must be available at all times; if tied outside, the tether must be at least three times the length of the dog, and pet owners must seek appropriate veterinary care.
Currently, Birmingham, Rochester, Rochester Hills and Sterling Heights don't have ordinances prohibiting chaining a dog outdoors.
But MacColeman, who declined to be interviewed after the meeting, still thinks Troy should take the lead in the region. "I want the ordinance changed," she told council. "I want more humane treatment. I think Troy is a humane, progressive city."
