We All Know Tying Up Dogs Is Cruel, So Why Is Dallas Thinking About Making It Legal?

Who knew it would be so hard to agree on something as disagreeable as tying up a dog in the yard? Nevertheless, here we are.Next month the Dallas City Council will vote on overhauling a list of rules related to animal welfare , the direct result of a study conducted following the horrific death of Antoinette Brown in South Dallas last year. Among the changes everyone agrees on: making it illegal to lock an animal in an unattended car, forcing breeders to get strictly regulated permits and requiring microchipping. Why it took a fatal mauling to get us here, I'll never understand.Until Monday, when a City Council committee hit pause on one piece of the proposed ordinance, the rewrite also proposed making it legal to keep a dog on a tether with certain stipulations: owners can't use chains, the tether must be five times longer than the animal and affixed to a leather or nylon collar, and the animal needs easy access to fresh water, food and shelter from sunlight and harsh weather.  Continue reading...