WRITE: Miami-Dade County voting on anti-tethering ordinance

Please forward far and wide [please write, no matter where you live]

From Protect Children & Dogs in Miami-Dade, pcmiamidade [at] bellsouth.net

Sample letter and emails follow.

Please help the chained dogs of Miami-Dade County. On October 7, Miami-Dade County Commissioners will vote on an ordinance to restrict dog tethering in the county. This is important legislation that must be passed. Please write to the Commissioners to ask them to pass this anti-tethering ordinance.

EMAIL ADDRESSES:

District1 [at] miamidade.gov, BMORRIS2 [at] miamidade.gov, District3 [at] miamidade.gov, District4 [at] miamidade.gov, district5 [at] miamidade.gov, District6 [at] miamidade.gov, District7 [at] miamidade.gov, jcarlos [at] miamidade.gov, District8 [at] miamidade.gov, District9 [at] miamidade.gov, District10 [at] miamidade.gov, district11 [at] miamidade.gov, District12 [at] miamidade.gov

IMPORTANT: Commissioner Natacha Seijas, district 13, does not have an email address. Please take the time to send her your letter by fax at 305-375-2011. Or mail your letter to: Commissioner Seijas, Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 N.W. 1st Street, Suite 320, Miami, Florida 33128

SAMPLE LETTER (please personalize)

Dear Miami-Dade County Commissioners:

I understand you will soon be voting on an ordinance to restrict tethering dogs in Miami-Dade County. This is important legislation that should be passed. Miami-Dade County wants to be known as a glamorous and fun tourist destination. A dog suffering on a chain in the hot tropical sun tarnishes this image. The ordinance imposes humane conditions for tethering, including requiring people to be outside when their dog is chained.

The evidence demonstrates that chaining is cruel and inhumane, often making "vicious monsters" out of otherwise gentle and social animals. Dogs are social animals who instinctively want to be part of a group or pack. Leaving dogs chained outside makes them aggressive. The Center for Disease Control reported that chained dogs are almost three times more likely to bite. Children have been injured or killed by going into a chained dog's area, or by a dog who has broken free from a chain. A dog loose in a neighborhood could be one who was made aggressive by chaining.

Tethered dogs are easy targets for attacks by other animals. They are killed or injured by extremes in weather, poisoned by humans, and made sick from animal feces or bird droppings. Often, the necks of chained dogs become raw and covered with sores from the dogs' constant yanking and straining to escape confinement. Dogs have been found with collars embedded in their necks.

Many other places protect humans and dogs by having tethering ordinances, including Fort Worth, St. Louis, Washington, DC, Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach, Hollywood, FL, Macon, Georgia and the entire States of California, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Connecticut.

Miami-Dade County should pass the anti-tethering ordinance.

Sincerely,