It is not every day that you hear California and Texas mentioned together in the same sentence (although I hasten to point out that I have lived in–and am very fond of–both states).
Living in the most ultra-progressive part of a super-progressive state, I had nearly forgotten that some dogs spend almost their entire lives chained up and forgotten in yards. Well, not any more– at least not legally–in California or in Texas (or a bunch of other states).
A long-practiced custom chaining up a dog outside, where it spends most of its life seems to be inching its way toward unacceptability.
Thirteen states, including California, Vermont, Texas and Maryland, have passed laws restricting tethering or chaining, according to the Animal Law Coalition, and bills are being considered now in seven more states. Most of the state laws restrict the manner in which dogs are chained (requiring shelter, for example, and minimum tether lengths); most proposed new bills set similar restrictions and limit the hours a dog is chained.
A bill proposed in Illinois, however, would be the strictest state-level law if it passed the first requiring that any time a dog is tethered, it be visible to its owner.
It’s not hard to see which way the wind is blowing on this matter. I’m sure nobody who reads this blog will object.
