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Get
your
Chain Off 2007 Attire!
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Penny
Kruszeski Posted By: April Hunt, Steven D. Barnes, Sandra Pedicini, Willoughby Mariano and Walter Pacheco of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Orlando Sentinel Sanford - While many Americans will celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and cookouts, Penny Kruszeski of Orange City will spend her day chained up in the hot Florida sun. Kruszeski, a member of Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit opposed to leaving dogs tethered for long periods of time, will chain herself to a doghouse for eight hours today to get the point across. Kruszeski said she will be chained from noon to 8 p.m. next to Lake Monroe near Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford. She said she is one of about 100 people who will do the same in states across the country in order to increase awareness of the issue. "My family wants to have me committed," she joked. "But if it helps one dog, it will be worth it."
www.tampabays10.com Sanford, Florida - An Orange City woman is spending Independence Day chained up in the hot Florida sun. That's to show opposition to leaving dogs tethered for long periods of time. Penny Kruszeski is part of a nonprofit group called Dogs Deserve Better. Kruszeski says she will spend eight hours chained to a doghouse next to Lake Monroe near Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford today. She says she's one of about 100 people across the nation who will be part of the same demonstration.
Woman plans unusual protest against chaining dogs By
PATRICIO G. BALONA ORANGE CITY -- Penny Kruszeski intends to live like a chained dog on Saturday. She plans to chain herself to a doghouse in her backyard on Dogwood Avenue in Orange City from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. "People will probably think it's crazy, but it doesn't matter," Kruszeski said. "I also first thought it was ridiculous when I first learned people were doing it." Kruszeski is one of more than 100 volunteers in 32 states who belong to the nonprofit group Dogs Deserve Better and protest by chaining themselves to doghouses or fences. Tammy Grimes of Altoona, Pa., said she founded the organization in August 2002 after living next door to a dog that spent its entire life at the end of a chain. She also runs a Web site, www.dogsdeservebetter.com, as part of her effort to educate the public on the cruelty of chaining dogs. "It's mistreatment," Grimes said in a telephone interview from Pennsylvania. "It makes dogs aggressive." According to her Web site, chaining is not only inhumane but can endanger children if the dogs become aggressive. The site claims that at least 143 children were killed or seriously injured by chained dogs between October 2003 and May 2007. "Chained dogs, unsocialized with humans, can become very territorial of their tiny space, and any two-year-old who wanders into this space can be attacked or killed before adults can intervene," the site states. Kruszeski, 49, said she originally planned to stage her protest on the July 4 holiday in Sanford but canceled those plans due to the wet weather. But she feels the issue is important enough to try again. "It's a form of torture and cruelty to make a dog live 24/7 at the end of a chain," Kruszeski said. "If I can get a dog off a chain, then I will take all the flak people will throw at me." Torturous or not, people who chain their animals with access to water and shelter are not breaking the law, said Sergio Pacheco, community outreach officer and field operations supervisor for Volusia County Animal Control. "It is acceptable to chain an animal out there but we're working to educate people that it is a good idea to socialize with the dog when they come home," Pacheco said. "But there is no law that says they have to socialize and there is no law that says they cannot chain their dogs." patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com Re "Woman plans protest against chaining dogs," article, July 6: I hope Penny Kruszeski's effort to educate owners who tether their dogs by chaining herself outside makes dog owners who continue this inhumane practice think twice. I wonder if Volusia County Animal Control spokesman Sergio Pacheco's statement "It is acceptable to chain an animal out there" reflects the attitude of Volusia and Flagler residents. While it may be legal, I hardly think it is "acceptable" to chain a dog outside at any time. It certainly is not humane treatment for a companion animal and very often results in aggressive and dangerous behavior. To quote animal behaviorist Dr. Dennis Fetko, "An outside dog has an address, not a home." The Austin, Texas, City Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting the chaining or tethering of dogs to any object. It's time Florida followed suit. Good for Penny and good for Dogs Deserve Better. They have my support.—Yvonne Pressley
Note from Penny I
am also attaching pictures of me chained in front of the
dog park for 8 hours on July 7th. My face is beet red in
one of the pics because it was sweltering even in the shade - about
100 degrees with the heat index. Such a horrible life for
a dog 24/7. I was only in the heat for 8 hours and got a
migraine that lasted 3 days! I wish everyone who chains
a dog could have experienced those terrible hours.
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