City OKs plan to stop overnight chaining of dogs
Steven Brown spent 32 years helping to rid Whitehall’s streets of a few bad men. Now, he is looking out for a few of man’s best friends.
Brown, Whitehall’s animalcontrol officer, hopes a new city law that will prohibit overnight tethering of unattended dogs will be copied by other cities.
“It’s a terrible life,” Brown said of the dogs he’s seen left tied up outdoors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Brown retired in 2014 from the Whitehall Division of Police and became the city’s animal-control officer in January 2017.
“Some dogs are left on leashes 6- to 10-feet long and that is their existence,” Brown said. Sometimes they’re a public nuisance because of frequent barking.
But Brown sees a bigger problem: a potential for injury if the animal escapes.
These dogs, he said, are likely to have limited interaction with humans or other dogs, and that lack of socialization means greater potential for them to act aggressively if they get loose.
The Whitehall City Council unanimously adopted the law this week, prohibiting tethering a dog from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. It also prohibits the tethering of a dog during extreme heat or cold.
Mayor Kim Maggard signed the legislation Wednesday and it will go into effect March 27.
The prohibition mirrors those in Bexley and Blendon Township, other central Ohio communities that have an overnight prohibition on keeping a dog tethered.
Those who violate the Whitehall law can face a fourth-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $250 fine and 30 days in jail.
Whitehall already had legislation on the books that addressed tethering of dogs for extended periods of time. It said that “no dog shall be chained or tethered for more than 12 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period.”
“But it wasn’t enforceable because I can’t monitor (a property) 12 straight hours,” Brown said.
Following models in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati that prohibit tethering between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., Brown asked Zach Woodruff, Whitehall’s director of public service, to present legislation to the City Council to amend city code.
Brown said the new law should help him deal with dog owners who have not responded to warnings or citations.
Councilman Chris Rodriguez said the new law provides for “more humane treatment of pets” and the provision regarding extreme weather should “eliminate some of the conditions we see where pets are overwhelmed.”
No residents spoke about the legislation during three meetings where it was considered, Council President Jim Graham said. Reaction on social media has been positive, he said.