October 2016 – Untold Animal Stories

I stare up at the knotty pine ceiling in this sweet old cottage and see dog faces. There’s one that looks slap-happy. There’s one that’s long-faced. One that’s reproachful. Another, expectant.

Here, in this place of meadow and forest and pond, where the Milky Way is deep with stars, I remember our dog, Beez…

Beez, of the expressive eyes and sense of things as they are. Beez, without layers of history, complexity, and interpretation, just pure emotion.

I see him lying on his bed, unmoving except for his eyes, missing nothing. I hear the tick-tick-ticking of his toenails on the pine floor. I see him looking out the screen door toward the grass, the pond, the sun and shadows on the distant hill. I see him lifting his nose to the wind.

I see Beez trotting down the lane between the cottage and the pond, tail swishing side to side. I see him fishing, ankle deep, in the shallows for pumpkin seed fish, pawing and pouncing, catching nothing.

I see Beez on top of the world—a flower-dotted high meadow with a 180˚ view of the mountains. Storybook clouds drift across the sky. Beez and I walk along with the wind whispering, the insects buzzing, the birds singing.

I see Beez walking down the lane ahead of me, returning home. He has turned toward me, waiting for me to follow. Then he moves into the shadows of the deep woods, disappearing from sight.

A quick email, a phone call from you can facilitate passage of SB 373 in the PA House and end 24/7 inclement weather tethering for dogs.

article from http://www.humane-pa.org

Senator Richard Alloway + 18 co-sponsors introduced SB 373, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate 45-4! Now it needs to pass the House. Please call, write, e-mail, or use social media to contact your State Representative to request their support of SB 373. Your message can be short, stating simply “I am a constituent – please support SB 373, the inclement weather/anti-tethering bill.”

Please follow up by making a call to Representative Ron Marsico, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to ask him to move SB 373 from his committee: Rep. Marsico: (717) 783-2014 or rmarsico@pahousegop.com.

SB 373 will:

Ensure that a dog is removed from the tether in periods of inclement weather.
Provide minimum standards for length and type of tether.
Ban the use of poke, pinch, or pronged collars which pose a danger to the dog while tethered.
Ensure that the dog may only be tethered long enough for the owner to complete a temporary task and that the owner may not leave the dog unattended and tethered.

Facts about tethering:

What does “chaining” or “tethering” of dogs mean?

These terms refer to the practice of fastening a dog to a stationary object or stake, usually in the owner’s backyard, as a means of keeping the animal under control. These terms do not refer to the periods when an animal is walked on a leash.

Why is tethering dogs inhumane?

Dogs are naturally social animals who thrive on interaction with people and other animals. A dog kept chained in one spot for hours, days, months or even years suffers immense psychological damage. An otherwise friendly and docile dog, when kept continuously chained, becomes neurotic, unhappy, anxious and often aggressive.

In many cases, the necks of chained dogs become raw and covered with sores, the result of improperly fitted collars and the dogs’ constant yanking and straining to escape confinement. Dogs have even been found with collars embedded in their necks, the result of years of neglect at the end of a chain.

In addition to The ASPCA, The Humane Society of the United States and numerous animal experts, even the U. S. Department of Agriculture issued a statement in the July 2, 1996, Federal Register against tethering: “Our experience in enforcing the Animal Welfare Act has led us to conclude that continuous confinement of dogs by a tether is inhumane. A tether significantly restricts a dog’s movement. A tether can also become tangled around or hooked on the dog’s shelter structure or other objects, further restricting the dog’s movement and potentially causing injury.”

What effects does tethering have on the community?

Banning permanent tethering makes for safer neighborhoods and happier dogs all without adding burden to our animal control agency. – The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports chained dogs are three times more likely to bite resulting in greater incidences of dog attacks and bites to humans and animals. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also concluded in a study that the dogs most likely to attack are male, un-neutered, and chained.

Find your State Legislators.

More articles/information on tethering:

Pa. bills would outlaw dog tethering, revenge pet cruelty

Tethering – on its Last Thread?

Table of State Tethering Laws.

Township Tethering Ordinance (sample language)

Philly Dawg York Co. borough approves landmark anti-tethering law.

Philly Dawg: Harrisburg Poised to be the first PA City with anti-tethering law