The Humane Society of Hall County in Georgia is asking city council to impose a ban on dog chaining

Rick Aiken, of the Humane Society of Hall County in Georgia, appeared yesterday in front of the Gainesville City Council to urge them to consider an outright ban on the practice of chaining dogs.

A chained dog is a danger to itself and to everyone around it, which is something the county animal shelter is very aware of.

Humane Society president Aiken made a presentation to the Council on Thursday morning, hoping to persuade them to pass an anti-chaining ordinance.

"Obviously they had some questions, but I was real pleased with the response," he said afterward. "We focused on the safety issue, because that's something everybody can understand, even if they're not an animal lover."

Aiken claimed that Hall County averages about one dog-bite case per day, and he cited a recent study published by the national Centers for Disease Control which shows that a chained dog is three times more likely to bite someone.

Several metro Atlanta counties, including DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett, already have some form of anti-chaining restriction.

Gainesville Mayor Bob Hamrick asked Aiken to provide copies of other area ordinances for the council to study.

Some questioned whether a new law is necessary, or whether simply educating pet owners might suffice.

But Councilwoman Ruth Bruner seemed to believe an official ordinance is necessary.

"I think if people are going to chain their dog up, they just don't need a dog," she said.

Aiken said he plans to approach the Hall County Commission in the next few months to request a similar ordinance.

Gainesville City Manager Bryan Shuler said if both governments ban dog-chaining at the same time, it might make enforcement easier and less confusing.

If laws are passed in Gainesville and Hall, it will be part of a growing national trend. Adam Goldfarb, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, said more than 100 communities in 30 states have adopted such ordinances, "but there's a lot of variation in what they will allow."

Some places, for example, allow owners to chain dogs for short periods of time. But Aiken is pushing for a complete ban.

"It would be hard to enforce if it were limited to a certain number of hours," he said. "It needs to be all or nothing."

Tara Mitchell, spokeswoman for PAWS Atlanta, a private, no-kill animal shelter in Decatur, said she was glad when DeKalb County passed its ordinance two years ago.

"It's had a huge positive influence," she said. "At least with the law, if someone calls and complains about a dog that's tied up, there's something animal control can do."

Aiken said Hall animal control frequently receives calls from people complaining about chained dogs, but as long as the dog in question has adequate food, water and shelter, the owner cannot be cited for anything.

Wednesday, Banks County officials in Georgia announced plans to charge Randall Morgan, a Jackson County Sheriff's deputy, with animal cruelty after four dead dogs were found chained on his property near Homer. But Morgan's alleged crime is starving the animals, not simply chaining them.

Goldfarb said local governments are beginning to recognize that chaining a dog for long periods is cruel.

"A dog's well-being isn't just physical," he said. "The main problem with chaining is the isolation. Dogs are social animals and need to be with people. Some of these owners treat them as if they're nothing more than living lawn ornaments."

Deprived of social contact and stimulation, chained dogs typically become neurotic and unpredictable.

"They tend to be very territorial, and they also develop aggression as a way of defending themselves, because they can't get away if they're threatened," said Goldfarb.

This is something that makes the dog extremely dangerous to other people and dogs in the community if they get loose.

"Sooner or later, a chain breaks, and then it's a threat to the entire community," he said.

Goldfarb also said more than 70 per cent of the dogs involved in fatal attacks are non-neutered males.

"When you put a dog like that on a chain, it's a setup for tragedy," he said. "And so many of these incidents involve children who wander within the dog's reach."

Also, he said, people who engage in the illegal sport of dogfighting usually chain their dogs deliberately to make them more aggressive.

"Chaining is the confinement method of choice for fighting dogs, so by eliminating chaining you can also cut down on dogfighting," he said.

Chaining a dog regularly can also often leave physical and mental scars that never quite heal.

"We've had dogs come into our shelter wearing outgrown collars that have become embedded in their skin," said Mitchell. "And many chained dogs are so unsocialized that no one wants them. I adopted a dog who still has behavior problems as a result of being tied up."

Aiken, for one, doesn't see the point of getting a dog that's going to be left outside all the time with no human interaction.

"Why have a dog if it's chained 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?" he said. "That's a form of torture."

Some owners may argue that chaining is their only option if leash laws don't allow them to let the dog Rome freely and they don't have the money to build a fence on their property.

But Mitchell said that's hardly an excuse.

"If you don't have a fenced yard, then you walk him twice a day and keep him indoors the rest of the time," she said. "That's where a dog wants to be anyway, with the family."