Andrea Rosebrock 
This is a wonderful piece of news that I am seeing more and more across the country, another county, Frederick County, MD, now has an ordinance which regulates chaining and tethering of dogs.
Dogs cannot be tethering any more than 10 hours in a 24 hour span of time and animal control is asking citizens to give a hand.
Frederick County Animal Control Division Director Harold Domer is asking citizens who see a dog tethered for more than 10 hours in a 24-hour period to document their observations and report it to animal control.
They should write down the specific times the dog was tethered, he said.
Owners found in violation for chaining or tethering will be given a 30-day grace period to set up new accommodations for their pet.
If they are still in violation after 30 days, animal control officers will issue a civil citation. The person who witnessed the tethering may need to come to court to testify, since animal control officers will likely not have seen the chaining themselves for the entire 10 hours or more. (WTOP)
Can’t say that I think this is a great way to do things but if it works….
Dog owners are permitted to keep dogs outside in kennels if they provide proper shelter, food and water.
The ordinance requires a minimum of 100 square feet for a single dog in an outdoor enclosure. If the dog weighs more than 75 pounds, the law requires an additional 50 square feet. Pet owners who have more than one dog will need 75 square feet for each additional dog.
Pet owners face a $50 fine for the first violation, $75 for a second and $100 for third and subsequent violations. Animal control officers also have the ability to seize dogs.
The ordinance also defines shelter and food, water, and medical requirements for dogs.
It is good to see more counties, cities, ect. finally realizing how detrimental it is to keep dogs tied or chained up 24/7/365. Dogs are social animals and they need the interaction of their ‘packs.’ Constant chaining caused mental, emotional and physical problems and can lead to disastrous results. Bites from unsocialized dogs, sick dogs, neglected dogs….
This is a good step and I applaud Frederick County take taking it and for everyone who had a hand is getting it passed!
I agree that it is a start, but I hate to see any dog tethered. I see it in my neighborhood, and it makes me sick.
There is no reason to tether a dog at all. If you do not have the yard for a dog, don’t own a dog. Fence in your yard, or get one of those fences with the shock collars. Tethering is not only dangerous for the dogs, along with being unsocialized, some of these dogs are so strong they can chew thru the tethers, break away and get hit by a car, break away and frighten or hurt children in the neighborhood. Then you have the small dogs, who yap the whole time they are tethered up.
I have wanted to go outside in our neighborhood and tell my neighbors, and everytime I try to my husband gets upset and says to stay out of it. I do better yet, I go inside and call the police. I want to put something together to take to the police department about tethering, and what it does mentally to the dogs. Anyone have any suggestions – I would love nothing more than to never see another tethered dog in my life!
@Susie – To a degree, I do agree with you. Personally, I do not have a problem with a dog being on-lead for a short period of time, and I do mean short, like a half hour to maybe an hour and it needs to be while under supervision.
In my neighborhood, few people have fenced yards, mine is one of the few exceptions. There are a lot of dogs and at a couple of the homes, they do put their dogs out on lead for a short period of time for the dogs to do their business, but they also take them for daily walks and play with them.
Beyond that, I cannot abide by constant chaining or tethering and do agree.
If you want some excellent information, go to Dogs Deserve Better. That website has some fantastic information and so does Unchain Your Dog.
Dogs Deserve Better
Unchain Your Dog
Thanks for the info. I just feel that chaining or tethering a dog is like chaining your child to a post in the basement so they don’t get into trouble.
The people in my neighborhood, tether the dogs, rain, snow, hot as hell, and go inside. The dogs are not supervised. We don’t have any fences in our neighborhood, but we built a “playpen” for our boys. They go outside, and they run frantically to their area. We don’t leave them out alone even – one or both of us are outside with them all the time. When they do their business, they have one little spot in their pen, and then we play catch, frisbee, whatever. This pen is not a little area either. They are able to run back and forth, and get plenty of exercise, with the pen being 75′ X 25′. And if we are out in front with the boys, they are so well behaved, that they stay on our property, without wandering. The one thing the boys do do is to “patrol” the perimeter of the property on our last trip outside at night. We take our walk, off lead around the property, and if everything is up to snuff, they potty and we go in for the night.
It is probably a personal thing with me, even tho my guys are spoiled, they are well behaved; and I just cannot see doing that to a dog.
YOU KNOW WHEN I WAS GROWING UP WE HAD AN OUTSIDE DOG THAT WAS ALWAYS CHAINED UP & I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT OF IT AS WRONG. BUT I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND ON THIS OVER THE YEARS. I HATE TO SEE ANY DOG CHAINED UP OUTSIDE ALL DAY LONG. I HAVE A GOLDEN RETREIVER & SHE IS AN INSIDE DOG AS WAS MY DOG RUSTY BEFORE HER THAT WAS ALSO A GOLDEN. I TIE HER OUTSIDE TO DO HER BUSINESS SEVERAL TIMES A DAY BUT I’M ALWAYS OUT THERE WITH HER. PEOPLE PLEASE DON’T CHAIN UP YOUR DPOGS OUTSIDE ALL DAY LONG BRING THEM IN SO THEY CAN ENJOY THEIR TIME WITH THEIR PEOPLE.