Tipton, PA

Thursday, June 09, 2011

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Chained-Dog advocates will take their doghouse blues to the Pennsylvania State Capitol Steps in Harrisburg

25 People to Chain Themselves to Doghouses on the Capitol Steps in Support of Anti-Tethering Legislation

June 9, 2011, Tipton, PA—Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit working to bring dogs into the home and family, will once again bring doghouses to the PA State Capitol steps, only this time 25 people will spend the day chained on June 20, 2011 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m as part of the organization's Annual Chain Off Campaign.

Last year Dogs Deserve Better founder Tamira Thayne, with the help of other volunteers, spent 54 days chained at the bottom of the steps advocating for a law. She left empty-handed (but tan!) when the session ended in October.

The group is acting in support of two tethering bills: HB 826, which was introduced in the House in February by Rep. Scavello, and SB 972, which was introduced in the Senate in April by Sen. Alloway. These bills would limit the amount of time a dog could spend chained each day, and provide some protection for extreme weather conditions of heat, cold, and storms.

Chain Off has been held annually around the 4th of July since 2004 to show that while Americans are celebrating their own freedom, there are tens of thousands of our "Best Friends" in every state who are still not free: America's chained and penned dogs.

Thayne states, "We seek to call attention to those who are suffering—dogs who spend their entire lives at the end of a chain or enclosed 24/7 in a small, lonely pen. Dogs want nothing more than to be with us, their pack, and leaving them in solitary confinement is damaging to both the dog and the caring neighbors who are forced to witness the neglect."

Laws against chaining dogs for life are a growing trend in America, with four states successfully enacting time limits on chaining, and over 200 cities and counties nationwide setting similar limits or bans.

See the website at www.dogsdeservebetter.org for complete Chain Off 2011 information and locations nationwide that will also feature Chain Off Events.

Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Tipton, Pennsylvania, is the 2010 First Place Winner of the American Dog Humanitarian Awards "Voice for Ending the Chaining of Dogs," and currently has over 100 area reps in 32 states as well as in Canada.

Tamira Ci Thayne

Executive Director

Dogs Deserve Better

Tipton, PA

814.941.7447