Comment

Comment by gotmorecats on May 17, 2011 at 11:35pm

During the 10 years I've lived in Monroe, the dog population has greatly increased in my neighborhood, and so has the population of ignorant/negligent dog owners. To accommodate this, animal ordinances need some serious examination and change. There also needs to be zero tolerance enforcement, especially when it comes to dogs because they can cause a lot of damage.

I'm especially in favor of making dog chaining/tethering illegal, or at least limiting dog chaining to just a short period of time during each 24 hour period and I think leaving a dog unattended in the fenced yard should also be limited by law. Currently, it is legal to chain/tether a dog in the yard 24 hours/day, from puppyhood to death. There is no requirement for the chain/tether to be a certain length (one of my neighbor's dogs lived on a 5 ft. chain for 6 years until she died), there are no requirements for exercise/play and no description of what adequate shelter is. Even with the state statutes that address animal welfare, you can still get away with not feeding/watering the dog on a regular basis.

Dog chaining opens the path to too many other problems:

1. Neglect: it's easy to conveniently forget about the dog when it's chained out in the backyard, especially when it is raining or cold, and chained dogs often do not get fed on a regular basis, and they rarely get any exercise/play time;

2. Excessive Barking: the needs of dogs are usually ignored when they are chained 24 hours/day, and so naturally the dogs bark for attention, because they are hungry, because they are fearful or alarmed, which is also unfair and very disturbing for neighbors, in fact having to listen to someone's dog barking day and night can have a seriously negative impact on a person's life and health. Try suffering from nightly sleep deprivation caused by barking dog or being driven out of your own yard because of loud barking at the fence. It's very stressful, and for some people knowing the dog is in distress adds to the stress;

3. Feces Accummulation: I have a photo of one of my neighbor's chained dogs surrounded by what looks like about a month's worth of her own feces. Need I say more? Well I will anyway - not only is this unhealthy for the dog but it creats intolerable odors for neighbors.

3. Dogs getting loose: chained dogs, at least the ones in my neighborhood, often break free from their bondage. Many of these dogs have never been socialized/trained and could be dangerous to people and other animals. They often end up dead in the road and I've also seen near auto accidents when people slam on their breaks to avoid hitting a dog that has darted out into the street. When dogs run loose they are also at risk of being injured or killed by frustrated, annoyed or frightened neighbors. This is not fair to the dog or the neighbors.

I'm not a dog owner or an outspoken animal welfare advocate but I don't like seeing animals mistreated and suffering, and I don't like being annoyed and kept awake by people's barking dogs, the smell of their dog's feces because they are too lazy to clean it up, or dogs digging up my gardens.  

There are a number of other ordinances that need to be implimented to hold people accountable for their dogs' care and behaviors, and the consequences for violations should be tough. I'm in favor stiff fines which increase with each violation, of community service in the animal shelter in addition to fines, and of 3 strikes/violations and the dog is taken away. I'm also in favor of breeding restrictions requiring a fee for each breeding dog, requiring vaccination records for offspring, and limiting the number of breeding dogs a person can have. I am NOT in favor of breed specific legislation because that will not solve the problem of irresponsible dog owners.

Some towns/counties have very strict rules governing the owning of dogs, why not here? It would sure make my neighborhood a much nicer place to live and I'm sure the dogs would appreciate it as well.

Comment by Union County Neighbors on April 6, 2011 at 1:00pm

I know that the neighborhood we live in, the constant sight of dogs roaming around is unbelievable.  Most of these dogs live in the neighborhood and just got loose off their chains, or escaped the yard somehow. Maybe a stricter leash law is needed. I do know that on trash days I'm tired of picking up the trash a neighbor's dog got ahold of.