Rockmart to consider new dog tethering law?

The concept of a tethering ordinance has been a hot-button issue for several months, and locals are continuing to voice their thoughts on whether or not citizens should be allowed to tie and restrain their animals for long periods of time.

Cedartown is currently the only local entity that has outlawed the permanent outdoor tethering of animals, but Aragon’s own version of the ordinance is currently in the works and set to be approved.

‘ Rockmart, however, has yet to implement any tethering policies despite looking into the idea last year.

Temporarily restraining an animal is still legal anywhere in Polk, but the ordinance prohibits lengthy and permanent tying in hopes that “all domestic animals shall be provided with a safe and sanitary confinement area constructed to confine the animal, to protect the animal from injury, and of a sufficient space to allow for adequate exercise suitable to the age, size, species, and breed of animal. The area shall have a means to rapidly eliminate excess water and minimize mud.”

Local resident Velvet Clay took to Rockmart’s most recent city council meeting with questions and hopes of inciting change.

“With a City attorney in tow can we just not use the same ordinance Cedartown uses and the one Aragon is about to adopt?” Clay asked. “From my conversations afterwards, I am to understand that the City of Rockmart does not want to get involved in animal control. They want it to be a county issue.”

Therefore, if you have a complain, you must go in person to the Cedartown animal control office and fill out a form, Clay explained.

“A form I have not been able to find online, as I was told I would be,” Clay said. “Nor does animal control know of such a form online. So, you cannot call and expect animal control to do anything. You just fill out the form in person and start a paper trail.”

Someone from animal control is supposed to go to the home and investigate, Clay said, and added that “if they don’t stay on them and make changes for the animals sake,”

“I would keep a copy of all efforts made to fix it. We can bring this before this council,” Clay said.

For many, the tethering ordinance is a preemptive measure to protect the animals. The new ordinance could potentially allow for quicker intervention when an animal appears to be suffering due to tethering, but without the new laws, the most a citizen could do is inform animal control.

Those in favor of laxer tethering rules believe the new laws are an inconvenience and sometimes unnecessary.

“What if I want to tie my dog up during the day and bring him in at night?” former Aragon city councilmember Hunter Spinks asked of the city’s original ordinance. “I’m a good, upstanding citizen not running dog fights or anything.”

The council shared their thoughts on the is- sue, and they evidently don’t consider tethering a dead conversation.

“Based off theory, I think we as a group need to have some discussion with the county and pose that question to them,” Rockmart city manager Jeff Ellis said to Clay. “I think this is something this group will entertain, but we have questions on our behalf. We wanna know how it’s gonna be enforced, who it’s gonna affect, and how it’s gonna affect them.”

Whether for or against, citizens are free to share their thoughts by contacting Rockmart’s city council. Details on the town’s elected officials can be found at https://www.rockmart-ga.gov/29/City-Council. The council meets on the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 7 p.m. at city hall, 316 N. Piedmont Avenue.

Clay promised to be one of those speaking out.

“I will not let this issue die with just this one meeting,” Clay said. “If nothing comes of it, I will go back again and again to the city council meeting to keep it in front of them so they do not ignore it.”