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Unchain Your Dogs
By Marisa | July 30, 2007
I’m going to guess that most people have seen a dog chained up outside, near a dog box, with only 10 or 15 feet of chain. Typically, these dogs are not removed from that chain at all.
Listen up, folks. That is abuse. I don’t care if the laws in your state or community say it’s fine as long as the dog has food, water and shelter. The law is wrong; that’s abuse.
Dogs are social creatures. They live in packs, not alone. To chain a dog outside to spend its live alone, away from its family is cruel. It goes against nature. And that cruelty creates a very emotionally sick animal.
If you care about dogs and want to help, please visit the Unchain Your Dog website to find out what you can do about dogs that are chained up outside, never able to interact with people. Among their suggestions:
# Bring your dog inside! Dogs get bored and lonely sitting on the same patch of packed dirt day after day, month after month, year after year. Dogs want to be inside the house with their “pack”: their human family. Read tips on housetraining and behavior modification to help your dog be a good “inside” dog. Did you know that inside dogs make the best guard dogs?
# Get to know the dog’s guardian if you are concerned about someone else’s chained dog. See tips on talking to a stranger about helping their chained dog.
# Call your local animal control office, humane society, or sheriff’s department if you see a dog who is:
* consistently without food, water or shelter
* sick or infested with parasites
* too skinny
Plus there are 18 more suggestions on ways you can help. Keep in mind that putting your dog out on a chain for short periods of time is not considered cruel. I put Belle out on a chain for anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on the weather and her mood. My neighbors chain one of their 5 dogs to go outside because that one dog is an escape artist. (And climbs the chain link fence like a cat!) What I’m talking about and UnchainYourDog.org is fighting against are owners who chain their dogs outside 24/7. That is cruel.
Dogs can’t speak up for themselves. Those of us with compassion for these loyal, loving creatures must speak for them. Please, if you see a dog chained outside, away from human contact, consult the website and determine a course of action. Let’s stop the cruelty.
Topics: dog |
8 Comments
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I have to agree This does nothing but make the dog have a bad life with out love. I for the unchain your dog. I think this is a wonderful idea. if not then why have a dog at all!
Thanks for responding!
I agree with you. wish people would give more freedom to “their” animals
Yes, we all wish that.
Thanks Marisa, for another great post. Our organization is VERY active for chained and penned dogs, and we currently have 150 area reps in 35 states. We also just did an event called Unchain the 50, where 108 people from 36 states lived chained to doghouses seeking freedom for chained dogs.
We can also mail out letters and educational brochures to caretakers of any dog you see chained or penned 24/7, check the site for more info at http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org
Tammie, I’ll be participating in the Bloggers Unite movement on September 27. The theme is “Stop The Abuse” and I’ll be covering abuse of dogs on one of my blogs. You can see this post for more information.
Please feel free to use one of the badges on your site to encourage other bloggers to join in. The more bloggers who know about it, the more are likely to join. Not all will blog about dogs or animals but we’re supporting each other in the fight against ALL abuse. Power in numbers, we hope.
i agree with you. chaining dogs outside the house is really insensitive. I however wonder about the opposite situation. chaining the dog inside the house with plenty of food, water and opportunity to explore. we do need to chain our dog inside the house when we are leaving, as we have three cats who have the run of the house. the dog moans when we lock him up in a room when we leave but does not mind being chained up in the living room where he can see all the action. we dont trust our cats to leave the dog alone as they trouble him a lot. we dont want the dog to rough it with the cats. we alos dont like the idea of crate training the dog, as the dog hardly enjoys any movement. besides, the cats dont bother the dog if he is chained up. any suggestion? overall,daily, the dog is on chain for 3 hours. he enjoys one hour exercise on a nearby hill without bounds. please give suggestions. waiting for your reply.
Crate training is not a bad thing. We used a crate for Belle and she would go to it if she felt she needed to be “safe.” Specifically, she would go there when one troublesome child would visit here. If your cats torment your dog, a crate could be the dog’s safe place.
I can’t imagine chaining a dog in the house.