It's always terrible to see a dog chained up outside for long periods, but that's especially true during extreme weather like the freezing winter months. It turns out this country has a
hodge-podge of laws that do not address this common form of animal abuse adequately at all!
Sign on if you want every single state to have a law prohibiting chaining dogs outside with specific language about harsh weather like cold winter months.
Of the 50 states, only 5 (Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Louisiana) have weather-specific language in their anti-tethering laws. Another 18 have specifications for how to tether or how long is not OK (usually longer than 10-hour stints) and California is the only state to be fully anti-tethering. Of the states that have any laws about
how to tether a dog, only a handful say a person could face anything more than a small fine for violating the law.
But the truth is, no dog should be tethered outdoors for extended periods, ever, especially not when it's freezing cold out! Even breeds that are more suited to winter conditions cannot be safely tethered outdoors for extended periods. They have no way to escape if something bad happens. like a natural disaster or violence from a stranger or another animal. Tethering can also lead to dogs getting tangled up and stuck in their chains, and often they don't have food or water within their reach for long periods of times.
Some dogs are even left where they are vulnerable to animal attacks with no way to defend themselves. Some animals are even chained so tightly that they can't even walk around at all and when they try, they choke themselves over and over again in exasperation.
All of these risks become more deadly when extreme hot or cold is involved. Dogs notoriously have trouble cooling down in heat and there's no telling how many dogs get frostbite, hypothermia or even die while tethered outside in the cold.
Please sign on to ask every single state to make sure their animal abuse laws include anti-tethering statutes.