GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama city is taking steps to outlaw the tethering of animals.
The Gadsden City Council recently passed an ordinance to ban tying up animals but won’t enforce it until after a grace period, The Gadsden Times reported.
Some cities allow tethering, but only for a certain amount of time. But Gadsden Police Chief Lamar Jaggears said police and animal control officers don’t have time to monitor how long a dog has been outside.
“If you pass an ordinance that they can only be on a cable for a certain number of hours, you’ve wasted everyone’s time,” he said.
The chief said a ban on tethering is more easily enforceable.
Some speakers worried that local animal shelters will fill up if the ban took effect immediately, so the council included a 60-day grace period. It will start after the mayor signs the ordinance.
Animal shelters in Athens and Huntsville - two cities with no-tethering ordinances - they didn’t have any overcrowding, said Jessica Millican, executive director of the Humane Society Pet Rescue and Adoption Center.
Millican said that a combination of a grace period and volunteer work averted a sudden influx of animals.
The tethering ordinance deals with animals at home, and will have no effect on the city’s leash law, officials said.
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