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<br />Tethering Committee Report July 30th, 2007 <br />APPENDIX IY.~ <br />Notes from Interviews with North Carolina Jurisdictions with Tethering <br />Ordinances: Conducted by the Tethering Committee <br />The following is a summary of comments from Animal Services officials from New Hanover County, <br />the City of Laurinburg and Catawba County, made in telephone interviews. The Tethering <br />Committee conducted these interviews on April 11th, 2007 as a part of its information gathering. <br />Dr. Jean McNeil, Animal Control Services Manager <br />New Hanover County <br />THE LAW: Prohibits tethering. Recently amended to add "attended" to the law so that dogs can be <br />tethered if their owner is present. They enacted a ban as opposed to time limits on tethering because <br />time limits are difficult to enforce because they would have to rely on a neighbor's testimony. <br />WIIY ENACTED: County felt that tax dollars were being wasted responding to chaining <br />complaints. Also enacted because of the cruelty issues Dr. McNeil and her officers were seeing. <br />The county also wanted to promote a higher standard of pet ownership. <br />ENFORCEMENT: Violation of the law results in a civil fine. Violators have 60 days to correct the <br />violation, if they do, the fine is cancelled. If the fine is not paid, it is sent to the county legal <br />department for collection. As a government agency, the county can garnish a person's wages. New <br />Hanover does not have the power of impoundment. They do not take people to court; the <br />enforcement is handled in-house by the legal department. <br />PHASE IN: New Hanover had atwo-year education period during which only warning notices <br />were given. Dr. McNeil felt that two years was too long. <br />RESULTS OF ORDINANCE: The law has resulted in very few dogs being surrendered. Neglect <br />calls have decreased. They get about 30tethering-related complaints a month. Some dogs probably <br />have run loose but those are the people who have no desire to be responsible pet owners. <br />PUBLIC REACTION: Support within the county. Majority of opposition has come from <br />elsewhere. <br />Elaine Modlin Animal Control Officer <br />City of Laurinburg Animal Control Department, Scotland County <br />THE LAW: In 1988, Laurinburg passed a law limiting tethering to 8 hours a day. It was difficult to <br />enforce. In 2000, they changed it to one-hour and the change made enforcement much easier. The <br />27 <br />