Ordinance Could Hinder Pets' Activity
(Some say tethering is the only way
dogs get exercise during the day)
By: Paige Lavender, Daily Mail Staff

Charleston, W.Va – Pet owners might have to make some difficult choices if Kanawha County follows through on a plan to restrict how and when animals can be tied up.

County officials are working on an animal cruelty ordinance aimed at preventing dog owners from leaving their canines tethered for long periods of time.

But some animal owners say the restrictions could make it difficult to let their dogs outside.

Davina and Michael Kemp of Elkview said keeping their dog Kallie on a runner is the only alternative they have to putting her in a cage.

They’re worried an anti-tethering ordinance might hinder the amount of physical activity the pit bull can get in a day.

“We can’t keep her in a kennel – she will just dig a hole and get out,” Davina said.

The Kemps oppose tying any of their seven dogs up with a chain on a regular basis, but they will occasionally use a tether to allow their dogs more space to move about in their unfenced yard.

“We never really use a chain, we just let them go out (in the yard on a tether) to get some exercise,” Michael said.

“I don’t like chains because a lot of times they’ll get tangled,” Davina said.

The Kemps said they aren’t opposed to an ordinance that allows short periods of tethering.

“I wouldn’t tie anything up to a chain, but you can’t let the dogs run around, and it’s almost impossible to walk them,” Michael said, referring to the large size of his animals.

Kanawha County law clerk Andrew Gunnoe is in the process of working to write an ordinance that will balance the community’s various concerns. He also faces the challenge of crafting rules that can be enforced in unincorporated Kanawha County – a large area that has just two humane officers.

Officials began debating the ordinance in May after they heard of a dog that drowned in Frame because it was left alone and chained to a stake during a flash flood.

But Gunnoe said there also have been a few people who are worried an ordinance will give pet owners an excuse to let their dogs to run loose in neighborhoods.
“The vast majority (of people we’ve heard from) have been in support of the ordinance,” he said. “Some people have reservations about a total ban, but very few people have called that have been 100 percent against it.”

Jim McClung said he’s one of those people. He said he thinks the ordinance is a terrible idea.

“We’re just getting too many restrictions, period,” he said. “We’re losing our liberties almost two steps at a time.”

The Elkview resident, a retired Baptist minister, said he had dogs in the past and used an electric fence to keep them on his property. But he said he thinks tethering can be a useful way to keep dogs safe and let them have time outside.

“I don’t think it’s wrong if they have a long enough chain, and they can move about and get to food and water,” said McClung, 86.

“If you have a dog and you need to chain it up,” he said.

Gunnoe said the county’s ordinance will have to be designed to appeal both to people like McClung and the Kemps, who say they responsibly tether their pets, and people who oppose any sort of tethering.

“It’s designed to go after the dog that’s tethered 24/7, but it’s going to be written so that there are exceptions,” Gunnoe said. “There is a proper way to tether with supervision.”

Deborah Linz, a board member for the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association and an anchor at WCHS-TV, said the ordinance is necessary for eliminating continuous tethering.

“There are so many reasons why (continuously chaining dogs) is wrong,” Linz said. “About 80 cities in the country limit tethering, and of those 80, 24 ban it completely.”

Gunnoe said he’s studied many of those cities’ ordinances, and he believes there are ways to structure an ordinance so dogs aren’t running wild in the streets.

“Other communities that have done it have said it’s not like that,” he said.

An ordinance is expected to be submitted to the Kanawha County Commission for consideration as early as September.

Contact writer Paige Lavender at paige@dailymail.com or 304-348-4872.

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