DOG TETHERING: TO ALLOW OR NOT TO ALLOW?

I went to a Hillsborough County City Council subcommittee meeting meant to tackle and possibly change the local dog tethering ordinances. I figured the whole thing would be pretty quickly resolved, the subcommittee would vote to change the ordinance and I’d be on my merry little way.


It was on the elevator ride up to the meeting that I caught sight of the “animal advocate” t-shirts and a commissioner from a neighboring county. The moment they told me “this will be a great thing to cover,” I knew I was in for a lengthy back and forth debate. I never really allowed myself to think that someone would be FOR animal tethering, much less show up and defend that thought!

When the podium was opened for the public to speak on the issue, the night began with the usual slightly out-of-it older gentleman who chose to verbally shake a finger at the subcommittee and basically just waste time. Another woman showed pictures of tethered dogs and explained that the people who do this won’t stop just because an ordinance is changed. A few more pleas were made on both sides, and then it was up to council members to duke it out.

It’s amazing how such nice looking older ladies can say something so sweetly, but when you stop and realize what they said, it’s no more than a verbal slap to the face! You had the argument that tethering is a viable means to hold a dog and that just because someone can’t afford a fence they shouldn’t have to give up their dog. The retort being, if you can’t afford a fence, you don’t need to have a dog.

By far the best argument (a critical thinking professor would be proud) was that of a gentleman serving on the committee. It was his prerogative that some animals should be tethered because if forced to come inside they might be violent to humans occupying the house.

…………

Yes, that’s right. Let’s keep a violent animal tethered outside so it doesn’t harm anyone inside the owner’s house, let’s not worry about the chances of the animal getting loose and attacking someone in the neighborhood. It wouldn’t have been that bad if he said his argument and was done, but the fact was that another council member addressed his faulty logic, and he tried to defend it!

It’s clear that with a person like him (dressed oh so professionally in a black t-shirt and ponytail) these ordinances will never be changed and animal cruelty will continue in Hillsborough County.