Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Must Love Dogs...

A beautiful & proud species, I'm sure you will all agree.

Yet, tonight I will go with my daughter who will make a formal
presentation to the City Council of Kyle, Texas (a small lovely
little community between Austin & San Marcos) about the
hideousness of chaining dogs. Her goal is to have a new
city ordinance preventing this from happening.

There are 3 such dogs, all German Shepherds in the space
of 1/4 mile on one street permanently chained outside.
And, by permanently I mean 24/7, and for years.

After doing days of research on this subject I've discovered
there are many towns & cities across the country where this
is not allowed.  If you are ticketed more than twice it becomes a
felony, not a misdemeanor, with serious jail time for the owner
and/or abuser.

In Texas we love our animals.  All kinds of animals.  If it were
up to me I wouldn't allow wild game hunting, either, but I digress.

Research at major universities and the USDA have all released
papers on the cruelty of chaining and the damage it does to the
dogs themselves, as well as to children who are witness to this
behavior. 

For me, I cannot see any reason a person needs to own a dog
if that dog is permanently chained.  Everyone knows dogs are
pack animals and must be socialized, with people and with other
dogs and animals.

I went & knocked on the door of one of the pitiful houses
where a German Shepherd was chained.  He barked the entire
time I was there, begging me to come to him.  The woman said
"she has been on a chain for 5 years."  Imagine!  I implored her
to allow us to find a safe home for the animal or to aid her in
caring for the dog.  She said no.  She looks to be an illegal with
small children in the house, but told me the dog belonged to her
eldest daughter who didn't live there any longer. Then she told
me she was a Wiccan.  Crazy.

I would love to hear from those of you who believe as we do
that domestic animals must not be chained, left outside no matter
the weather, generally have no human interaction, and are more often
than not, abused.

I will go with my daughter tonight because I feel as she does.
We have taken photographs of these 3 instances.
We have sent emails to the council members, citing all the appropriate laws existing
in other cities & towns in Texas, including Austin, and spoken with the mayor, asking
her support in this matter.

Wish us luck.


 





Photobucket

Posted by Picasa

12 comments:

  1. We have had a neighbor here in MD that got in trouble for chaining his gorgeous German Shepherd to a tree without shelter or water throughout the year - it seems his wife is afraid of animals and they wanted a guard dog. Complaints were filed by neighbors and they put in an invisable fence. They let him run free but people that don't care about animals - simply don't care. He was in the trash business and didn't believe in garbage cans - they had rats - they put out rats poison. Their dog ate it and died. Now they have another dog - he has a sad life and people are still trying to help him. So we must do ALL that we can to help these lovely animals! Good for you! Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a wonderful campaign! Good luck! Kellie xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. So sad!! Our dog is definitely a much loved part of our family - I'm sure he doesn't realize he isn't human! I applaud your daughter's efforts!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Marsha this breaks my heart...I hope you can get them to make the change. It is just wrong People should not have pets if they can't love them.

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have zero tolerance for people who chain their dogs. I can somewhat understand if there is no fencing and a person has to chain their dog when they go outside for nature's call, but any longer than that is unnecessary. I applaud you and your daughter for taking action. I will pray you are successful.

    ~ Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Marscha, Bravo. We have dogs (one from the dog pound). We love our dogs and they live with us.
    We live in sheep country and some of our farmers chain their guard dogs...it breaks my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I could not agree with you more! Florida just passed a law this week making it illegal to chain or tether dogs outside for any length of time and we were so happy to hear it! They are also cracking down on puppy mills - it's about time! Cheers to you and your daughter for sticking up for dogs:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my, I just can't imagine. Our Cappi is 14 years old and the love of our life. We would spend our last dime to care for her. Why would you have a dog, only to chain it up? I hope you win your case tonight.Please keep us all informed.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's so sad that many people in this world don't treat their animals with care and respect. The German Shepherd dog is a noble breed loyal and gentle when treated kindly.
    How brave you were to knock on that door and challenge the woman about her chained-up dog. Poor poor dog, it breaks your heart.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Marsha
    Bravo to you and your daughter - I wish you good luck!
    I have received two awards from Charlotta in Sidney, which I would like to pass on to you. Hope you will accept them.
    You can find them at this address: http://theessenceofthegoodlife.blogspot.com/2010/01/thanks-for-awards.html
    Good luck again!
    xx
    Lene

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have chills! That is awful. I am a bleeding heart and can't stand to hear of any injustice of any kind. You can be proud of your daughter and yourself for raising a morally sound and positive contributing member to our society. Bravo and keep us posted! XO, Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, how terribly sad! Best of luck to your daughter. Keep us posted please!

    ReplyDelete


Please know how much I value your comments. I read every single one and do hope you will take the time to leave your thoughts. I think InstaGram with the Emojis have taken a lot away from blogging, but I love IG too.