TN LAW WOULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO LEAVE DOGS CHAINED OUTSIDE IN SEVERE WEATHER
A bill introduced by Tennessee lawmakers, H.B.2860, would make it illegal for pet owners to leave their dogs chained up outside during severe weather.
Specifically, the bill would make it punishable for people to leave their dogs restrained with a chain, cord, tether, cable or similar kind of device during a natural or manmade disaster. That can include periods of severe flooding or tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service. Dogs could also not be tethered if a community is under a voluntary or mandatory evacuation area.
Violating the law would be a class-C misdemeanor, which would be punishable by up to a month in jail and a $50 fine.
The legislation was introduced by Representative Sabi ‘Doc’ Kumar (R – Robertson County) and Senator Jon Lundberg (R – Bristol).
Bernard LeFrancois
February 7, 2022 at 5:22 pm
This is great! But good is a law if it isn’t enforced. The prosecutor and judges need to let their constituents know where they stand. I guess I will have to ask all the folks running for Judge where they stand
Melissa
February 7, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Great idea, hope it passes. Though I think it should be a felony, but I’ll take this as a first step.
Cheryl Vick
February 7, 2022 at 8:31 pm
Excuse me??????JUST IN SEVERE WEATHER. This is so sickening. Everyone thinks this is a good thing. Hell, how many days in the year do we have tornados, floods Ice storms versus all the other days???? SO it is ok to leave a dog chained the other 350+ days?
anonymous
February 7, 2022 at 9:24 pm
First off, if you need to chain/tether an animal you shouldn’t have an animal at all. I have a neighbor that has a dog and goats, he keeps them on a 6 foot long tether 24/7; I’ve called animal control and their reply was as long as he feeds and waters them there is nothing they can do. REALLY?????? He treats his “fighting roosters” better than his other animals, I guess that makes him a “good ole boy” and it’s acceptable.
As for the $50.00 fine, if they even enforce the law (they sure don’t enforce the “hands free” law), that’s a joke; a more appropriate sentence would be to chain the violator up for a week, naked, during bad weather and see how they like it…maybe bring back stocks in the public square so everyone knows who they are. Hell, parking/speeding tickets these days are more than $50.00, and people don’t pay those, so why would they pay for this type of violation?