Dog proposal would limit time on tether

[TribalRats]

Dog proposal would limit time on tether

By Jim Balow
Staff writer

Dogs could be tied up outside no more than two hours at a time, or one hour during very hot or cold weather, under new proposed animal control regulations reviewed by a Charleston City Council committee Thursday.

The new rules also would give animal control officers much more freedom to pick up dangerous dogs than under the current laws, which police say are hard to enforce.

Members of council’s Public Safety Committee, who have been trying to rewrite the city’s dog control rules for months, got their first look at the latest version on Thursday. They took no formal action and will discuss them again Feb. 27.
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Lawyer Roger Wolfe of Jackson Kelly, chairman of the Kanawha/Charleston Humane Association, drafted the new rules after researching dog laws in other states, City Attorney Paul Ellis said. Ellis said he helped refine the rules, bringing them into line with the current city code.

“The main purpose is to modernize the law, based on research by the Humane Association,” Ellis said before the meeting.

Among the changes, owners who violate dog rules could get one chance to avoid fines by attending an animal training program, Ellis said, much as drivers can avoid points for tickets by attending traffic safety school.

Committee members had many questions about the proposed tethering rules. Under the proposal, owners can’t tether a dog for more than two continuous hours. Dogs that are tethered must get a three-hour break each time, and not be tethered more than five times in a 24-hour period.

When temperatures soar above 90 degrees or fall below freezing, dogs could be tied up no more than an hour at a time, with three-hour breaks.

Councilman Jim Harris said that seemed too restrictive. “We go from having no restriction to two hours. It’s hard for a working parent. It just doesn’t seem user-friendly.”

A four-hour limit would allow someone to tie up a dog in the morning before work, return at lunch, tie it up in the afternoon and untie it after work, he said.

Clarence Carte, one the Police Department’s humane officers, said owners have an alternative — a kennel. “You can get one for around $100. If you’re an owner you can spend, I know I do, more than $100 on your dog in a month.”

Others asked what could be done about dangerous dogs.

“We’ve got our hands tied,” Carte said. Under current law, officers can pick up a dog only with a court order, he said. Those orders are typically given only if a dog has already bitten three times.

The proposed law has a whole section defining dangerous dogs and procedures, Ellis said. They would allow officers to pick up a dog they have probable cause to believe is dangerous.