Unchain Cleveland County

The above video is photos from different areas in Cleveland County.  The video is 4:45 long and we could have made one over an hour long.  That is truly how many photos we have of dogs in this condition in our area.

Above is reason after reason not to chain your dog.   Dogs are social and need to be with their humans.  So the next question seems to be, how many dogs will die if tethering is banned?      It’s a hard question to answer, but with a non profit, working with the people who really want to keep their dogs, having a resource to get fencing, ( and their dog vaccinated, altered, chipped), having supervised tethering for a short period of time ( those who may tether their dogs to go to the bathroom), and having ACO’s not go out and immediately take dogs, but talk to owners, give them options, and allow time to pursue those options,could not only eliminate the suffering these dogs are enduring, but also help with the unwanted animals being born by some of these dogs.   Also included in the plan should be good relationships with all rescues, so that if there is a time that an unusually large number of dogs would be scheduled to come in, rescues can be made aware, with all details, ahead of time.  That way a plan can be in place to get dogs out before the shelter is full.

Austin Texas, with a population as large as the whole state of Florida, one of the largest open intake shelters in the country, not only has a ban on tethering, but has  95 percent live release rate.

We need to educate our county on the horrors of chains and the reasons this is not healthy for the dogs.  We truly need to be the voice of the voiceless and help those who cannot help themselves.  Please do not profess your love of animals if you do not want to protect them.   While they may be “considered” property, they are living creatures who deserve to be treated as such.

Cleveland County speak up.  Now is the time.

Below is a video from Austin Texas Animal Services.  Also note this video is from six years ago. That is how long they have been protecting those with no voice.