Agenda - 09-22-2008 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~~ Andrea Press is the N.C. Director of Responsible Dog Owners. She said that this movement has been going through the country for the past year and a half. Animal rights activists are quick to show pictures of dogs who have been chained improperly and the media are quick to vilify the owner who tethers the dog. He said that people are being spoon fed the idea that tethering is wrong by the animal rights activists. She gave statistics of children that were killed by dogs because of parental neglect. She said that responsible dog owners have the right to chain or not chain their dogs for whatever reason. Amanda Arrington said that she represents people not here as the Director of the Coalition to Unchain Dogs. She said that sometimes you must legislate in order to educate. She agreed that cruelty can happen in any situation. She said that dogs that are chained are more susceptible to being attacked. Bobby Kirk said that he is disappointed in the way that this is going. He has tried to get on the committee, and he was not allowed. He said that he has trained dogs for 40 years. He said that he has dogs come to him from all over the country that have been kenneled, but his best dogs are tethered. He urged the County Commissioners to reconsider this. He said to the committee that they never listened to the Orange County citizens. He said that tethering dogs is not bad. Michael Kirk lives in southern Orange County. He said that he looked at the Animal Services website and read the amendment. He said that the costs of this amendment are supposed to be absorbed back in the budget. He asked if the Animal Control Officers do anything all day now. He said that he rode around within five miles of Chapel Hill and he counted 38 tethered dogs and 72 dogs that were in kennels smaller than what is recommended. He does not know how the costs of this are going to be absorbed, because this will be a lot of work. He said that he has had dogs all of his life and the ones that are tethered are the friendliest dogs. Steven Hopkins said that he is a citizen of Orange County and he has owned dogs all of his life. He asked that there be an exemption for sporting dogs or for homeowners that cannot kennel because most sporting dogs must have daily exercise and must be chained to be in events. He said that putting dogs in kennels will not solve any problems. He thinks that the existing laws should be enforced. Pat Sanford is on the ASAB. She said that she is an animal trainer and she would never tether her dogs because it is not productive in training. She said that for 17 years she did animal investigations for Orange County, and during that time there was a very high number of investigations with tethered animals. She said that it is a human problem and not an animal problem. She thinks that the ordinance needs to pass to help the animals. She understands the sporting dog owners' concerns. She said that she is in support of the ordinance. Jamie Jacobs is a resident of Orange County and an owner of a pit bull. She said that she was asked to speak by a friend to share some statistics. She said that her breeder has been breeding pit bulls for over 20 years in the North Carolina mountains, and he was very clear with her about what she needed to do with the dog if she wanted him to become a vicious and dangerous animal, and that was to chain him and leave him alone. If she wished him to become a loving and social animal, then she must provide for him in other ways, which she does. She contains her dog with an Invisible Fence and she takes him for long walks. She said that there is a book sold in pet stores that gives very specific information about this breed, that if they are chained, they will become vicious and dangerous animals. Kris Bergstrand lives in Chapel Hill and was a member of the Tethering Committee and the ASAB. She said that the members learned a lot from the residents of Orange County and they struggled with how to balance the needs of the animals with 16