12 Days - 12 States - 120 Dogs
The Dognamic Duo Comes To North CarolinaBy Shari Strader, Best Friends NetworkDogs Deserve Better, a non-profit organization dedicated to getting dogs off chains, out of pens, and into the home and family, is on tour! Specifically Tammy Grimes, President and Founder, and Dawn Ashby, Public Liaison Director, also known as "The Dognamic Duo", are on a 12 day tour where they will visit 12 states in 12 days, and find at least 10 dogs in every state living their lives on the end of a chain.
Starting in Missouri and ending in West Virginia, the Dognamic Duo's mission is "to show how prevalent chaining and penning are in the U.S., educate the nation that it is common in all states, and put forth the idea that it is indeed something that must be stopped; that it is not humane and not an acceptable way to house and keep Man's Best Friend." They are speaking to caretakers of chained and penned dogs, passing out treats, collars and leashes, educational materials and fencing applications.
Day 8 brought them to North Carolina. They started out in Shelby,
where they met with Marguerite Mebane and some members of the Cleveland County Humane Society. They were surprised by the number of small dogs they saw chained in this area. Next stop was Union County where they met with Sue Ratliff of the Humane Society of Union County. They rode around educating caretakers on why dog chaining is bad, and on the importance of spaying and neutering. After that, they headed to High Point, another area where dog chaining is widespread. Before High Point, they had already found 87 chained dogs and, after High Point, they had at least 15 more to add to the list. And this was just 1 hour in 1 neighborhood. Then, they headed to the mountains.
The key message Dogs Deserve Better wants to send is that living chained by the neck 24/7 is no life for a dog. Dogs are social animals who thrive on interaction with human beings and other animals. Keeping a dog chained is not only inhumane, it's dangerous. When a dog is kept continuously chained, he becomes frustrated, aggressive, and highly territorial of his small patch of land. Any child who wanders into this space can be attacked and killed before adults can intervene. A study by the Centers for Disease Control, "Which dogs bite?", found that chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite. Additionally, many chained or penned dogs are seriously neglected as well.
The Dognamic Duo came to North Carolina with the hope of finding 10 chained dogs, but they found 104, in only one day. Their visit here was significant in that they were able to interact directly with caretakers, hand out lots of educational information and fencing applications, and confirm the fact that the chained dogs of North Carolina do indeed deserve better, much better.
What You Can Do:Become an area rep for Dogs Deserve Better
Get DDB brochures and put them out in your area
Work for laws in your city, county, or state against the chaining and penning of dogs for life
Watch the video of the Dognamic Duo's visit to North Carolina!
http://dogsdeservebetter.org/dognamictournorthcarolina.htmlTo learn more about Dogs Deserve Better and how you can help chained dogs visit their website at:
http://dogsdeservebetter.org/home.html