• Hall County citizens are fighting to pass a new law prohibiting unattended tethered dogs
• Unattended tethered dogs are dangerous
• Visit Change.org and search “Hall County” to sign the petition

We brought you this frightening quote from an interview with Superintendent of Athens-Clarke County Animal Control, Patrick Reeves last week.

“Quite a long time ago before we had a local ban on tethering, there was a picture in a local newspaper that showed a run line with a leash going down into flood water. I don’t know what was on the other end of that leash, but it kinda makes you wonder if the family pet was out there, it probably didn’t do too well.”

Unattended tethered dogs can be dangerous and that’s why Athens has a law prohibiting it.

“It’s actually not legal to tether your pet unless you’re out there with it.” Reeves explains. “So for instance, you want to work in your garden, you got a run line, you want to have your do out there with you while you’re out there, that’s fine. But if you go inside, that’s a violation of the tether law. You can’t leave them out there like that.”

Residents of Hall County are petitioning to prevent this nightmare from ever becoming a reality in their neighborhood. They are encouraging residents to “please vote yes for anti-tethering laws” as they fight to make a change in their community.

One reason residents are asking for the ordinance is because tethered dogs pose a very real harzard for children and adults.

Leticia M.S. Dantas is an Educational Program Specialist at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She says,

“The dog is tethered. It has no escape. So if it’s afraid of something or someone and this person or this animal approaches, it’s a disaster waiting to explode.”

In an attempt to avoid that disaster, over one-thousand-three-hundred Hall County residents have signed the petition for an anti-tethering law. In the letter they state “There is NO law that says everyone should have a dog! Many should NOT own a dog.”

To sign the petition, visit Change.org and search “Hall County.”

Noel Couch, Grady Newsource.