LOWNDES — On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Lowndes County Commission decided in favor of the anti-dog chain ordinance proposed by, Veterinarian Dr. Amanda Hall.
Tom Hochschild, Lowndes County Commissioner said, “Pet ownership entails a responsibility to protect the animal from harm, and to protect human beings from the animal. If a person can not handle these responsibilities, they should not be a pet owner.”
Bill Slaughter, Lowndes County Commission Chairman said the ordinance would not be dropped and that they will be taking a serious look at it.
“Folks, we understand the passion that you have for your pets, and for pets in general and the care that they are given, and the love you give them, we understand. We also have tough decisions to make, and we’ll have to look at all of these issues and how it’s going to affect everyone, as well as how it will affect the pets in general,” Slaughter said.
The issue with dogs being chained up outside is that they often do not have the access to water, food and shelter. Another issue is that these pets are not able to socialize well with other animals and people, in return making them aggressive towards both.
“You know, there’s two kinds of people who tie dogs. I’m working on a house right now getting it ready to rent, and the lady next door will tie her pit bull to a cast-iron pipe that holds up the carport,” real-estate agent, Allan Canup said. “But when she does it, she’s out there with the dog. She sets up a lawn chair, and she simply does it because she does not have a fenced yard, and I don’t see a problem with that.”
Jeff Creamer, Veterinarian and owner of Baytree Animal Hospital expressed his concerns with tethering animals outside.
“You may not think that has a lot to do with tethering and so forth, but a lot of those patients who are poorly socialized are more likely to bite and more likely to get poor care,” Creamer said.
Not only do these pets have social anxiety but often times their collars are embedded into their necks from lack of care. Outdoor animals can also attract multiple parasites and diseases.
