Fort Worth Bans the Chaining of Dogs

Susy Owen

Attorney

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In 2007, Texas House Bill 1411 was passed making it a misdemeanor to chain a dog overnight, in extreme weather, or for more than three consecutive hours. That is a start. Now, the City Council of Fort Worth has improved on that law and has banned chaining dogs in front and back yards, period.

The cost to anyone violating this law is a $500 fine for the first offense. If that does not get the message through, the law breaker will face a possible stay in jail, which may actually be better conditions that they left their pet in. The fines can go from $500 up to as much as $2,000.

Education is key. Some people just don't get the cruelty aspect of their behavior towards pets and some, the worst kind, just don't care. As Ghandi pointed out "you judge the morality of a country by the way they treat their animals." For people who have pets but lack a conscious, and/or awareness, the law is there to guide them to do the right thing. In a 20-year study done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, it documented that tethering a dog brings out and increases aggressive behavior in animals. Dogs that are chained are almost three times more likely to bite people, according to this study. Cruelty aside, those facts should be reason enough not to chain a dog.