Hall resident fights for no-tethering law in county | GainesvilleTimes.com

Driving through Hall County and seeing dogs tied up in yards breaks Gainesville resident Harriette Taylor’s heart.

Taylor wants the Hall County Board of Commissioners to pass an ordinance that prohibits pet owners from tethering dogs in their yards.

However, she is meeting resistance from county staff and commissioners who say they have concerns about the added expense to residents and such a law causing more people to abandon their animals.

The city of Gainesville has passed an ordinance prohibiting tethering in yards, and other nearby counties have also passed ordinances outlawing the practice.

One time, Taylor said she drove by a residence on Lakeview Drive where a dog chained to a tree had wrapped its leash around the tree and was standing on its back legs because it couldn’t lower itself on its front legs.

“I said ‘Look what’s happening to your dog,’” she said. “So that, of course, fueled my wanting to get this passed because there are people who just don’t understand.”

Taylor said chaining a dog outside makes it aggressive and it can attack people it comes into contact with, including children. Many dog bite cases in Georgia were from chained dogs, she said.

Gainesville passed its ban in 2007, thanks in part to the efforts of Taylor and Rick Aiken, former executive director for the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia.

The ban Taylor wants Hall to pass would likely mirror the city’s law.

via Hall resident fights for no-tethering law in county.