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Passion Ignites the Anti-Tethering Movement Through Tammy Grimes

June 19, 2007, 12:0AM MT

By Michelle Buckalew

An interview with Tammy Grimes

An interview with Tammy Grimes

by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends Network

How did one person start a local campaign that has caught the attention of the national animal welfare movement? How did one person help quell the suffering of countless companion animals living their lives out on the end of a chain? How did one person hold an awareness event so bold it borders on performance art? That one person is Tammy Grimes, and she did quite simply: one step at a time.

Talking with Tammy is like speaking with an old friend, she’s real, humorous and very down to earth. Her no-nonsense approach makes it apparent why her organization, Dogs Deserve Better, has gleaned national attention and is so effective in helping the companion animals that suffer in silence everyday. She gives their plight a voice and her manner rings with truth. So how did this beacon of hope come to be so?

“I grew up on a 108 acre farm in rural Pennsylvania,” she tells me, “our pets were outdoor animals, and our Beagle was chained. My siblings and I would bring the animals into the house whenever our parents went out. Someone would watch for their return, and we’d quickly usher all the animals back outside.”

Tammy went away to college and then was in the Air Force for five years. In the Air Force she became a cryptologic linguist; she learned the Czech language to help the U.S. decipher international codes. After she left the military, Tammy went back to get her degree in graphic design from the University of Maryland. She went on to get married, have children, and get divorced. She moved back to Pennsylvania to raise her children near her family.

That’s when her life’s trajectory took a sharp turn. She was surprised at how prevalent it was to still see dogs chained up. She started reporting neglectful looking incidents to the local Humane Society, without seeing many results. She continued the dialogue with neighbors and friends, but kept hearing things like “it’s not right to chain dogs, but you’ll never change people’s minds.”

This went on for about six years, until 2002 when Tammy founded the non-profit Dogs Deserve Better, and single-handedly put the plight of every chained companion animal on the map! Using her graphic design skills she created a professional and eye catching website, which immediately started drawing people to her.

The next step in awareness for Dogs Deserve Better, were two very clever events that literally tied the community to the problem: one was the Valentine’s Campaign and the other the fourth of July Chain Off Campaign. This past February saw the fourth annual Have A Heart For Chained Dogs week, where children and students hand make Valentines embedded with the message, then the Valentines are sent to addresses all over the country where dogs have been reported as living their lives on a tether.

Over 5,200 valentines were sent to almost every state in the union, and parts of Canada. The educational proponent of this event is genius, it gets the children thinking about the humane treatment of animals, and the family of the suffering dogs get a blast in the face of reality, not from a place of berating and blame, but from a place of innocence and love.

The Chain Off Campaign that coincides with our national day of celebrating freedom, is a real coup in terms of raising awareness for the animals in need and sneaking up on the unsuspecting public. It looks silly and fun from afar, almost a throwback to pole sitting and the old people packed like sardines in a telephone booth; but the message is much more serious. The contest involves being chained to a doghouse – whoever can do it the longest wins! And wins big! To garner the attention of the media and the public, Tammy held a fundraiser to get a big ticket prize – a Chevy Aveo.

The contestants are chained to their doghouses with the exact same restrictions that a chained pet would have: no magazines, TVs, smoking or visitors, except members of the press who help document how terribly boring and miserable it is to feel forgotten. The longest winner held out fourteen days, fourteen days of hell, now times that a lifetime – this event is so innovative that Tammy is making plans for this to be truly national with fifty states participating. As she’s working on these plans, she’s realized she needs a much bigger sponsor to have fifty simultaneous Chain Off’s going on all over the country. This year’s event Unchain 50 is a National event raising awareness from coast to coast! Check out how you can get involved by going to this story listed at bottom of page.

These are such unique and riveting events, I asked Tammy where she got the idea: “I listen to other people, I’m smart enough to embrace smart ideas.” She also explores the tactics and techniques of other modern day social change innovators such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Suffragettes.

“Studying the method of the non-violent leaders that have made such a positive impact on society gives me a greater insight on how to move forward strategically,” she says, “people like Alice Paul and Mahatma Gandhi were not afraid to spend time in jail.”

“Our work for the animals needs strong leaders and it’s our time, looking at how these previous leaders did it is an inspiration,” Tammy continues. “Gandhi said he did not have a compulsion to follow un-just laws, and I agree with him.” Tammy walks the walk, this past fall she unchained and sought medical care for a dog that was reported lying motionless for three days. The local Humane Society had been called repeatedly and they were totally unresponsive, Tammy “saw a need and filled it!” You can read further about her stand for justice on the Animal Law Coalition community: http://network.bestfriends.org/animallawcoalition/news/9705.html

While Tammy is not afraid to stand up for the animals, she is also not afraid to go into the neighborhoods and talk with the families in the homes of chained dogs. “I’m a self educated psychologist, well I did want to go back to get my Masters in psychology – but I feel I’m on my way to earning one in that I have to use the dynamics of psychology everyday that I’m out in the field.” She says that dealing with the people that have chained dogs, she has heard many “excuses” such as there’s allergies in the family, the dog got too big, too hairy; the excuses seem to run the similar gamut as do the economic circumstances of most families with chained dogs. It is often lower income homes that chain their dogs. So I asked if it were a financial reason why they couldn’t unchain their dogs. “Not really, there are fencing programs available to help these people, and frankly, your basic wire fencing is pretty cheap; it’s both economic and an attitude.”

“Most of the time there’s a laziness too. When I get a call to check out a dog I often have to scan the yard filled with detritus and junk to find the dog,” conveys Tammy reluctantly. “More often than not, there’s some kind of dysfunction going on within the family and the neglected dog is just one of the symptoms. One time I got a call to come see a dog. I rang the bell, it was in the evening and the kids answered. I had been told the father was an alcoholic and the mother was basically absent, and that the kids canvassed the neighbors looking for meals for themselves.

Then I asked the kids where the parents were, and was told they were both at work – so I know the kids are covering for the adults. So I tell them the dog is outside chained without food or water. The kids quickly went to get the dog bowls and get him the provisions he’s entitled to by the law.”

“But it’s heartbreaking, when you see kids that can barely take care of themselves, and you know they’re suffering along with the dog, but the kids will eventually have an opportunity to find a way out, the dogs don’t. I then told them that Pennsylvania has a straw law, which requires the doghouse to be lined with straw,” Tammy goes on.

“One of the ways to help these chained animals is to Complain About Noise! It’s so sad that the authorities will respond to a noise nuisance but will not respond to an endangered animal report,” she says with a where there’s a will there’s a way attitude.

It is evident that Tammy is taking the Anti-Tethering Movement to the next level. When I ask her whom she admires in animal welfare, she’s quick to respond: Nathan Winograd is such a maverick, and Best Friends is one of the best. It is unfortunate that some national organizations don’t realize that when they offer something like say doghouses for the less fortunate, they are missing the boat. Dogs do not need more houses, they need to come inside, to be a part of the family.

When asked if there are any politicians she admires she says “only Dennis Kucinich, he’s the only one where you know where he stands on the animal issues, so many of the other politicians are very murky in their beliefs and agendas.”

She also thinks that if that the more people are made aware of the issues surrounding the humane treatment of companion animals the more involved they will get, the more pressure will be put on the government and the critical mass, the tipping point will evolve out of people getting more courageous as the numbers grow. But she said, it has to come from legislature against tethering, it’s the only way to ensure long term progress.

“Look at a cause, like the anti-fur movement. There was a time when you would not be caught dead in fur, the popular opinion was that it was outré and cruel, but when the “war against fur” seemed to have been won, people took the pressure off and moved onto other causes, and now fur is back in a big way. The only way to guarantee that this does not happen with tethering is to get it on the books as a law!”

What You Can Do:

Check out the Dogs Deserve Better : Click Here

Learn more about Unchain the 50 on DDB website:
Click Here

Read related network story.
Unchain the 50

Comments

Posted June 21, 2007, 8:35AM by tammyddb

Denise, thank you so much for such a wonderful article! You did a fantastic job remembering everything we talked about, and I appreciate your kindness. I enjoyed talking to you too! Tammy

Posted June 23, 2007, 12:38AM by ruthy92

Tammy Grimes and Dogs Deserve Better are moving mountains!

Chaining is an issue that disturbs so many people, and it is an issue that must be dealt with in our lifetime

Hope that Best Friends will keep supporting DDB

Posted June 25, 2007, 9:20PM by mutt

Hi Tammy:

I was so glad to meet you in Dallas at the Pet Expo, and now just elated by what is happening in TX, particularly after seeing dogs chained left in freezing rain sleet, starving, choking to death first hand. Mostly pits, and pit crosses.

You were so sincere and moved I just had to join the group and do what I could.

Molly

Posted July 22, 2007, 11:37AM by dogbruiser

I'm currently in Colombia traveling through South America with my two dogs. I probably see the same as what is in the US. Lots of people who love their dogs, and others next door who keep them chained for 'safety.' I would love to pass out flyers (in Spanish) as I travel. Are there any???
Lorraine
www.OnaMissionfromDog.com
CairoCats.com

Posted June 21, 2007, 5:48PM by cattees

Tammy, you rock!

Is there any chance of getting that awesome chained dog statue to accompany you on the Unchain the 50 effort?

Posted June 19, 2007, 1:8PM by laura

Tammy Grimes is such an inspiration.

We can all help get dogs off chains! Let people in your community know about the cruelty and danger of chaining and tethering dogs! Ask your local animal control to put anti-tethering information on their web site. Check out your state or local governement laws. If there are no restrictions on chaining or tethering, propose a ban! Contact the Best Friends network for information about the cruelty and danger of chaining/tethering and model laws.

Participate in next week's Chain Off in Atlanta or Seattle or have an event in your community!

Posted June 20, 2007, 10:39PM by D2or3

Love Tammy Grimes. Love DDB. Together, we all have to get dogs off chains and out of pens.

Great article except for the Nathan Winograd mention. I don't believe a no-kill movement that gives dogs to any schmoe on the street and putting almost 100% of the blame on shelters. I also don't believe there is a home for every dog. Obviously, supply far exceeds demand at this point. And lastly, there are so many irresponsible owners that I don't think most people should have pets/companion animals ever, nonetheless kids.

Posted June 24, 2007, 12:4PM by mingostar

Unchaining Plan: Does anyone have a plan for a community to work towards unchaining? I live in a city where chaining has been the norm forever. If all of a sudden chaining were against the law, there could easily be 5-8,000 animal at animal control on a given day, to be repeated day after day.
I would love to know about steps a community could go thru leading to no more chains. To unchain every animal here chained on a certain date would be a catastrophe for the animals.

Posted June 22, 2007, 1:59PM by marieb

Tammy Grimes has been such a great inspiration to me. As a represntative of Dogs Deserve Better, I have learned so much about the suffering of these dogs who live in solitary confinement alone and afraid, and the mentality of the people who inflict this suffering on them. I never would have dreamed that I would have the guts to go to someones house and speak to them about the sadness and loneliness that their dog is experiencing and be able to offer hope for the dogs, but Tammy has given me strength through her courage and commitment to this very important cause. The time is now for people to evolve and realize that dogs are our friends and companions and stand up for them no matter what it takes. I've had some people say to me that I should focus this wasted energy helping people instead of dogs ... but that's not where my heart is, there are millions of people helping people, the dogs need someone to speak for them because they suffer in silence and they need every one of us to unite and stand and speak on their behalf. Lets break the chain and end this needles suffering !
God Bless You Tammy for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your wonderful organization.
Marie Belanger