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Animal advocates to chain themselves to doghouses
Tipton, PA
Thursday, June 25, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mikael Hardy
PAWSitive Effects
864.304.5780 (cell)
cake4grace@mac.com
www.pawsitiveeffects.com
Greenville, S.C., June 25, 2009 – To make a bold point about the cruelty of keeping a dog as a prisoner at the end of a chain, a group of animal advocates will put themselves in the place of the dogs, chaining themselves to doghouses, July 11 and 12 in Piazza Bergamo in Greenville, S.C.
Equal parts protest, educational outreach and performance art, the seventh annual Chain Off is designed to raise awareness about the suffering endured by millions of dogs that live out their days in chains, often pacing a small patch of dirt for years on end. The event is sponsored by nonprofits Dogs Deserve Better, a national group working to end the practice of perpetual chaining, and the local anti-chaining organization PAWSitive Effects.
Participants will chain themselves beginning at 10 a.m. each day. Chain Off is held in different parts of the country every year, always on or around Independence Day when the concept of "freedom" is on the national consciousness.
"Living chained to a doghouse for even a single day is grueling," said Mikael Hardy, a Simpsonville resident and Chain Off organizer. In 2006, she tethered herself for 75 hours. "A few hours or days of discomfort and frustration is nothing compared to the suffering of so many dogs that spend their entire lives at the end of a chain, living in a small patch of dirt, their tethers often wrapped around a tree. They bake in the summer and freeze in the winter. They are desperate for affection or just a walk. Most of us can barely begin to imagine the agony and loneliness of such a life for a social, highly intelligent animal. People are often quick to pay attention to a dog being beaten or otherwise physically abused, but a life of isolation and neglect is just as horrific"
The practice of 24/7 chaining is still prevalent and accepted in many places in the United States, including in South Carolina, where an attempt to pass a statewide "anti-tethering" law several years ago was soundly defeated. By contrast, California and Nevada recently passed laws to limit how long a dog can be chained each day. Hundreds of cities and counties nationwide have enacted, or are considering, similar legislation. In South Carolina, few cities have anti-chaining laws, although Simpsonville has banned the practice and Greenville County puts certain restrictions on chaining, for example forbidding the use of heavy tow chains, which are sometimes used by people to make their dogs look "tough" or aggressive.
Nationwide, supporters of the anti-chaining cause will observe Chain Off by tethering themselves in parks, private yards, and other places between June 27 and July 12.
Who: Dogs Deserve Better (based in Pennsylvania) and PAWSitive Effects (based in Simpsonville) are nonprofits focused exclusively on ending the antiquated practice of keeping a dog tied up for its life, or for extended periods of time. Both groups offer free or low-cost fencing for people willing to take their dogs off chains, provide education and outreach, and rescue and rehabilitate chained dogs, as well as advocate for anti-chaining laws.
What: Seventh Annual Chain Off
Where: Piazza Bergamo in Greenville, S.C
When: July 11-12, 10 a.m. to evening
For more information: www.dogsdeservebetter.org or www.unchainourworld.org.
Why:
Contact:
Mikael Hardy
PAWSitive Effects
864.304.5780 (cell)
cake4grace@mac.com
www.pawsitiveeffects.com
Animal advocates to chain themselves to doghouses
South Carolina residents among hundreds nationwide who will put themselves 'in the doghouse' in order to raise awareness about the inhumanity of keeping dogs perpetually chained
South Carolina residents among hundreds nationwide who will put themselves 'in the doghouse' in order to raise awareness about the inhumanity of keeping dogs perpetually chained
Greenville, S.C., June 25, 2009 – To make a bold point about the cruelty of keeping a dog as a prisoner at the end of a chain, a group of animal advocates will put themselves in the place of the dogs, chaining themselves to doghouses, July 11 and 12 in Piazza Bergamo in Greenville, S.C.
Equal parts protest, educational outreach and performance art, the seventh annual Chain Off is designed to raise awareness about the suffering endured by millions of dogs that live out their days in chains, often pacing a small patch of dirt for years on end. The event is sponsored by nonprofits Dogs Deserve Better, a national group working to end the practice of perpetual chaining, and the local anti-chaining organization PAWSitive Effects.
Participants will chain themselves beginning at 10 a.m. each day. Chain Off is held in different parts of the country every year, always on or around Independence Day when the concept of "freedom" is on the national consciousness.
"Living chained to a doghouse for even a single day is grueling," said Mikael Hardy, a Simpsonville resident and Chain Off organizer. In 2006, she tethered herself for 75 hours. "A few hours or days of discomfort and frustration is nothing compared to the suffering of so many dogs that spend their entire lives at the end of a chain, living in a small patch of dirt, their tethers often wrapped around a tree. They bake in the summer and freeze in the winter. They are desperate for affection or just a walk. Most of us can barely begin to imagine the agony and loneliness of such a life for a social, highly intelligent animal. People are often quick to pay attention to a dog being beaten or otherwise physically abused, but a life of isolation and neglect is just as horrific"
The practice of 24/7 chaining is still prevalent and accepted in many places in the United States, including in South Carolina, where an attempt to pass a statewide "anti-tethering" law several years ago was soundly defeated. By contrast, California and Nevada recently passed laws to limit how long a dog can be chained each day. Hundreds of cities and counties nationwide have enacted, or are considering, similar legislation. In South Carolina, few cities have anti-chaining laws, although Simpsonville has banned the practice and Greenville County puts certain restrictions on chaining, for example forbidding the use of heavy tow chains, which are sometimes used by people to make their dogs look "tough" or aggressive.
Nationwide, supporters of the anti-chaining cause will observe Chain Off by tethering themselves in parks, private yards, and other places between June 27 and July 12.
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Who: Dogs Deserve Better (based in Pennsylvania) and PAWSitive Effects (based in Simpsonville) are nonprofits focused exclusively on ending the antiquated practice of keeping a dog tied up for its life, or for extended periods of time. Both groups offer free or low-cost fencing for people willing to take their dogs off chains, provide education and outreach, and rescue and rehabilitate chained dogs, as well as advocate for anti-chaining laws.
What: Seventh Annual Chain Off
Where: Piazza Bergamo in Greenville, S.C
When: July 11-12, 10 a.m. to evening
For more information: www.dogsdeservebetter.org or www.unchainourworld.org.
Why:
- Because millions of dogs live most or all of their lives in chains in the U.S. alone, many of them growing insane and aggressive at the end of their tethers, with countless females getting pregnant and giving birth while chained, giving rise to yet more unwanted animals.
- Because today most people understand that dogs are social, intelligent animals that require exercise, grooming, vet care, stimulation, and compassion – all of which many perpetually chained dogs never receive.
- Because chained dogs often become neurotic and aggressive, thereby posing a danger to children and adults.
- Because there are numerous, humane methods of confinement that do not involve chaining a dog by its neck for months or years at a time
- Because the national trend is away from a tacit acceptance of this method of confinement, with hundreds of cities, states, and counties passing laws that limit or ban the practice of perpetual chaining.
Tamira Ci Thayne
Executive Director
Dogs Deserve Better
Tipton, PA
814.941.7447
814.742.8679
