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Tragic Mauling Puts Spotlight on Proposed Anti-Chaining Law
Tipton, PA
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tamira C. Thayne • founder, Dogs Deserve Better • www.dogsdeservebetter.org
P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684
Cell 814.207.4586
tddb@dogsdeservebetter.org
Or
Monica Schreiber, DDB Public Relations Representative
510) 418-5897 (cell); monica@dogsdeservebetter.org
Tragic Mauling Puts Spotlight on Proposed Anti-Chaining Law
Chained dog severely mauls Pennsylvania boy on eve of Dog Bite Prevention Week
May 19, 2009, Altoona, Penn. — The May 13 mauling of a Coraopolis boy by a dog kept chained in his family's yard has highlighted the public safety reasons behind an "anti-tethering" bill currently before the state judiciary committee. The serious attack comes just days before Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 19-25.
HR 1254, sponsored by Rep. Mario Scavello, would restrict the amount of time dogs can be chained in a caretaker's yard. If enacted, the law would follow the lead of states like California, Texas, and Connecticut, as well as hundreds of cities and counties nationwide. Anti-chaining laws not only protect dogs from a miserable life at the end of a chain, they also protect children from attack, as chained dogs – isolated, unsocialized, and often lacking even adequate food, water, and shelter – can easily become aggressive. Sometimes kept as "watchdogs," chained dogs are unable to distinguish between true intruders and innocent children who just want to pet the dog.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a perpetually chained dogs is almost 3 times more likely to attack than a dog that is socialized and kept in humane conditions.
The recent mauling of the Coraopolis boy, who was hospitalized in critical condition, follows the January death of an 8-year-old girl in Hanover Township, who was killed by a dog kept chained to a camper shell.
Mothers Against Dog Chaining, an affiliate of nonprofit Dogs Deserve Better, has counted almost 260 children nationwide who have been killed or seriously injured since 2004 by chained dogs. The group estimates that the actual number is much higher, as only those attacks that happen to be reported in local newspapers, and eventually found by MADC, have been counted.
Anti-tethering laws have picked up steam nationwide in the last three years as lawmakers and voters seek to bring antiquated animal welfare laws in line with the now widely accepted belief that keeping a dog on a chain for years on end is not only cruel to the animal, but also poses a serious public safety issue.
"Allowing people to keep a perpetually chained dog in the yard is tantamount to letting them keep a loaded gun in plain view," says Tamira C. Thayne, founder and president of nonprofit Dogs Deserve Better and its affiliate Mothers Against Dog Chaining. "We would be hard-pressed to invent a more insidious form of torture for a highly social, intelligent pack animal like a dog. It is no surprise that the byproduct of a frustrated, lonely life on a chain is all too often an angry and aggressive animal, usually lacking the legally required vaccinations. Years ago, when dog chaining was more common, people did not necessarily see dogs as most people see them today, as intelligent companion animals. Today, the vast majority of people believe that perpetual chaining is abusive, depressing, and dangerous. And it is time that our laws caught up to what most reasonable people believe"
HR 1254 would make it an offense to tether or chain a dog outside unattended between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The bill also makes provisions for the type and length of any tether used and mandates some minimal standards of care, including access to shade. The law makes exceptions for certain working dogs, such as those used in agriculture.
About Dogs Deserve Better
Dogs Deserve Better, a 501C3 nonprofit, provides a variety of services to people who agree to take their dogs off their chains, including providing free assistance with socialization, housetraining, and fencing. The group rescues and rehabilitates chained dogs and advocates on numerous fronts to change minds and laws and end the antiquated practice of perpetual chaining.
About Mothers Against Dog Chaining
Mothers Against Dog Chaining is an initiative of Dogs Deserve Better and was co- founded in 2003 by a mother whose daughter was killed by a neighbor's chained dog.
###
Contact: Tamira C. Thayne • founder, Dogs Deserve Better • www.dogsdeservebetter.org
P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684
Cell 814.207.4586
tddb@dogsdeservebetter.org
Or
Monica Schreiber, DDB Public Relations Representative
510) 418-5897 (cell); monica@dogsdeservebetter.org
Tragic Mauling Puts Spotlight on Proposed Anti-Chaining Law
Chained dog severely mauls Pennsylvania boy on eve of Dog Bite Prevention Week
May 19, 2009, Altoona, Penn. — The May 13 mauling of a Coraopolis boy by a dog kept chained in his family's yard has highlighted the public safety reasons behind an "anti-tethering" bill currently before the state judiciary committee. The serious attack comes just days before Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 19-25.
HR 1254, sponsored by Rep. Mario Scavello, would restrict the amount of time dogs can be chained in a caretaker's yard. If enacted, the law would follow the lead of states like California, Texas, and Connecticut, as well as hundreds of cities and counties nationwide. Anti-chaining laws not only protect dogs from a miserable life at the end of a chain, they also protect children from attack, as chained dogs – isolated, unsocialized, and often lacking even adequate food, water, and shelter – can easily become aggressive. Sometimes kept as "watchdogs," chained dogs are unable to distinguish between true intruders and innocent children who just want to pet the dog.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a perpetually chained dogs is almost 3 times more likely to attack than a dog that is socialized and kept in humane conditions.
The recent mauling of the Coraopolis boy, who was hospitalized in critical condition, follows the January death of an 8-year-old girl in Hanover Township, who was killed by a dog kept chained to a camper shell.
Mothers Against Dog Chaining, an affiliate of nonprofit Dogs Deserve Better, has counted almost 260 children nationwide who have been killed or seriously injured since 2004 by chained dogs. The group estimates that the actual number is much higher, as only those attacks that happen to be reported in local newspapers, and eventually found by MADC, have been counted.
Anti-tethering laws have picked up steam nationwide in the last three years as lawmakers and voters seek to bring antiquated animal welfare laws in line with the now widely accepted belief that keeping a dog on a chain for years on end is not only cruel to the animal, but also poses a serious public safety issue.
"Allowing people to keep a perpetually chained dog in the yard is tantamount to letting them keep a loaded gun in plain view," says Tamira C. Thayne, founder and president of nonprofit Dogs Deserve Better and its affiliate Mothers Against Dog Chaining. "We would be hard-pressed to invent a more insidious form of torture for a highly social, intelligent pack animal like a dog. It is no surprise that the byproduct of a frustrated, lonely life on a chain is all too often an angry and aggressive animal, usually lacking the legally required vaccinations. Years ago, when dog chaining was more common, people did not necessarily see dogs as most people see them today, as intelligent companion animals. Today, the vast majority of people believe that perpetual chaining is abusive, depressing, and dangerous. And it is time that our laws caught up to what most reasonable people believe"
HR 1254 would make it an offense to tether or chain a dog outside unattended between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The bill also makes provisions for the type and length of any tether used and mandates some minimal standards of care, including access to shade. The law makes exceptions for certain working dogs, such as those used in agriculture.
About Dogs Deserve Better
Dogs Deserve Better, a 501C3 nonprofit, provides a variety of services to people who agree to take their dogs off their chains, including providing free assistance with socialization, housetraining, and fencing. The group rescues and rehabilitates chained dogs and advocates on numerous fronts to change minds and laws and end the antiquated practice of perpetual chaining.
About Mothers Against Dog Chaining
Mothers Against Dog Chaining is an initiative of Dogs Deserve Better and was co- founded in 2003 by a mother whose daughter was killed by a neighbor's chained dog.
###
Tamira Ci Thayne
Executive Director
Dogs Deserve Better
Tipton, PA
814.941.7447
814.742.8679
