doghome
What can be done to correct the problem of chained dogs?
More and more communities are passing laws that regulate the practice of tethering animals:  New Orleans LA, Tuscon AZ, Okaloosa FL, Cathage MO, Lawton OK, and other cities all ban chaining.  The state of Connecticut, along with Wichita KS, Denver CO, Austin TX, Norfolk VA, West Palm Beach FL, and others allow dogs to be chained only for a limited number of hours per day.  Little Rock AR, along with other cities, ban fixed-point chaining, but do allow pulley runs.
2011-2012 Pennsylvania Legislative Session (regular session)

SENATE BILL 972

September 18, 2011
One senator has since joined the original eleven senators who co-sponsored this bill at the time of its introduction.  (There are a total of 50 state senators.) Click here for a current list of senators who have signed on as co-sponsors.  If your senator is on this list, please thank them for their support.  If they are not, go to the Take Action page for information on how to request the support of your senator.

April 15, 2011 
Senate Bill 972 was introduced in the PA Senate by Sen. Richard Alloway (R-33).  The bill was referred to the PA Senate Agricultural & Rural Affairs Committee.  As with the previous Senate Bill, it is of great concern that an anti-tethering bill which amends only title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) as it relates to animal cruelty has been referred to a committee normally responsible for the review of Title 3 (Agriculture) bills.  Click here for the full text of SB972.

Click here to see how YOU can help move this bill along.


HOUSE BILL 826

September 18, 2011
Seven representatives have since joined the original twenty-nine representatives who co-sponsored this bill at the time of its introdcution.  (There are a total of 203 representatives.)  Click here for a current list of representatives who have signed as co-sponsors.  If your representative is on this list, please thank them for their support.  If they are not, go to the Take Action page for information on how to request the support of your representative.

February 28, 2011 
House Bill 826 was introduced in the PA House of Representatives by Rep. Mario Scavello (R-176).  The bill was referred to the PA House Judiciary Committee which will decide if this bill merits further consideraiton.  Click here for the full text of HB826.

Click here to see how YOU can help move this bill along.

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LEGISLATION UPDATE - Unfortunately, both House Bill 1254 and Senate Bill 1435 died in committee during the last PA legislative session (2009-2010),

House Bill 1254: This bill marked the third time anti-tethering legislation had been introduced in the PA House.  The circumstances surrounding HB1254 were particularly disappointing.  Most notably, in early 2010 a national humane group stepped in and proposed a re-write of the bill in conjunction with several of the House Judiciary Committee members.   The proposed language (at least the last version we saw) was unenforceable and therefore compromised the spirit of the bill which was to protect dogs from the abuse and neglect associated with continual tethering.   For reasons unknown to us, the revised bill was never introduced but certainly muddied the waters for further progression of HB1254.  The bill died in the House Judiciary Committee.  There were 56 co-sponsors.

Senate Bill 1435: This bill marks the first time that anti-tethering legislation was introduced in the PA Senate, however the bill died in the Senate's Agricultural & Rural Affairs Committee.  There were 14 co-sponsors.  While we were grateful that SB1435 consisted of the same (original) language as HB1254, we questioned why this bill was referred to the PA Senate Agricultural & Rural Affairs Committee.   Anti-tethering bills only amend Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) as it relates to animal cruelty, not Title 3 (Agriculture) bills.

We anticipate the introduction of a new bill in the 2011-2012 PA legislative session and will provide an update as soon as further information is available.   

2009-2010 Pennsylvania Legislative Session (regular session)