ORD-2008-069 - Proposed Animal Ordinance Amendment on the Tethering of Dogs

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Frances Jones is a lifetime citizen of Orange County. She said that she has never seen the Chair disrespect citizens as he has tonight. She applauded the hunters for standing up for their rights. The hunters have a right to do what they are doing. She said that dogs in Chapel Hill are treated better than Fairview Community citizens because they have parks with trails. Fairview has been begging for a park for the last 30 years. She said that they are going to do what they have to do to get that park. She said that most of the money in the County goes to Chapel Hill. This is why people feel divided. The Fairview citizens feel that the County thinks more of the dogs in Chapel Hill than it does the citizens. She said that the County Commissioners need to do what they were voted in to do. Bobby Kirk said that he has several good ideas, and the big one is education. He said that there are only six ordinances nationwide that dictate kennel size. He said that he trains over 60 dogs a year, and he travels the nation in field trials. He has a dog coming in tomorrow that is 75 pounds and is a biter. The first thing he will do with this dog is put him on a tether. He said that his dogs are happy on tethers. He agrees that everything has to be done right. He said that every dog is different and tethering is a great thing for a dog. He urged the County Commissioners to vote against this. He said that it would solve no problems and there is no way that it could be enforced. Loren Hart said that he is in support of the dog ordinance. He said that dogs and other animals are individual beings, can feel pleasure, pain, fear, and loneliness. For these reasons, he believes that tethering dogs for prolonged periods is a form of abuse that should be stopped. It is a different kind of abuse than kicking a dog, but it is a form of neglect. He thinks that the current ordinance should be amended to mandate a higher level of care owed to the dogs by their human guardians. He said that he is a resident of Orange County and he works at UNC. He made reference to his uncle who died recently, and said that, in addition to being a veteran of the U. S. Navy, he was also an avid duck hunter, a charter member of the Migratory Waterfowl Hunters and Ducks Unlimited. He remembers fondly fishing with his uncle, but he never hunted with him. He said that he used to eat fish, deer, and other animals, but he does not anymore because he thinks that it is wrong to do so. He still respects his uncle and everyone in this room, but he disagrees with animal exploitation. For the past five years he has chosen a vegetarian diet because of the interests of animals. He thinks that this mindset would be helpful in looking at this ordinance. He made reference to the comments about tyranny and said that we all have rights and we all want to be free, but there is not unlimited freedom. The freedom ends somewhere. He said that animals have interests and it is not just about humans. Kevin Young is a dog owner and breeder and he asked the Board of County Commissioners to use common sense. He asked the County Commissioners to look at the safety issue. He asked where the supervision was of the children who were killed by dogs. He made reference to the breeding that happens and said that the leash laws need to be enforced. Regarding cleanliness, when it rains with a dog in a pen, it causes a multitude of problems. He said that this is not seen with a dog on a tether. He suggested using a body harness to tether a dog so that there would not be embedding of collars. If the dogs were taken care of, then there would not be a problem of embedded collars. He said that education is very important. Diane Genteel said that she spoke before. She said that the issues of aggression, socialization, pet overpopulation, etc. will not be remedied by this law and it is a question of education. Tethering is not the culprit; its the inappropriate use of tethering. She said that a dog on a ten -foot chain has more liberty than it would have in a ten -foot pen. Michael Kirk made reference to one of the committee members who is the North Carolina Director of In Defense of Animals, and said that he is afraid of what will be next with