Michael Mountain's story of adopting a formerly chained Sheltie.
When Pudgie, a handsome Sheltie, came to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, he’d spent seven years on the end of a chain in someone’s backyard. That’s no more of a life for a dog than it would be for you or me.
With nothing more to do with his life than pull at the chain and bark, that’s what he did. Day after day after week after month after year. He barked and barked ... until his family had him de-barked. That’s a surgical operation to cut his vocal cords.
With no voice and no way of getting away, Pudgie was defenseless. When people – usually kids – came up to him, often to taunt him, he tried to defend himself by snapping at them. They would stay just out of reach and laugh at him – perhaps throw things at him. Eventually he just shut down and went into depression. Just like you or I would. His family got fed up with him and gave him up.
Here at the sanctuary, it was difficult to place Pudgie in a new home. Although it was a huge relief to be off that terrible chain, he’d developed a seven-year automatic instinct to snap at any hands that came too near his face. So if you walked up to him to pet him, he’d suddenly snap at you. He couldn’t help it.
We found a secluded home, so I took him home myself to my house at the back of the sanctuary. He'd be safe there, and I'd be able to warn visitors not to wave their hands in front of his face. But it still took another two years for Pudgie to feel safe. At first he was terrified even of going outdoors. (“Are they going to put me on a chain again?”)
Three years later, he’s still liable to snap at hands waving too near his nose. And when something excites him, he twirls in circles (as though he were on a chain) and barks in the only whisper of a voice that remains after that operation.
Still, he’s a happy old thing now, and he seems to have let go of much of the past.
But there are hundreds of thousands of dogs who are not so lucky. They’re still chained and tethered and going crazy from boredom and anxiety in the back yard, often without any shade in the blazing heat of summer, and often without even a water bowl. (Often their owner doesn’t even notice that they’ve stepped on the water bowl while straining at the chain and have been without water all day.)
The American Veterinary Medical Association says, “Never tether or chain your dog because this can contribute to aggressive behavior.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a chained dog is 2.8 times more likely to bite than an unchained dog. Also according to the CDC, “The dogs most likely to bite are male, un-neutered, and chained.”
About two-thirds of attacks by chained dogs involve children – the same kind of kids who were taunting Pudgie.
Chained dogs can also choke when their chains became entangled with other objects. They can develop infections and severe wounds when their collars become embedded in their necks.
So please join in this year's Chain Off event. Here are the details:
This year Best Friends Animal Society is joining Dogs Deserve Better in its 5th Annual Chain Off beginning June 30, 2007. This year the event is called Unchain the 50. It is hoped people from all 50 states and Canada will chain themselves from 8-24 hours sometime between June 30, 2007-July 8, 2007. The two main locations are Atlanta and Seattle. But people are organizing their own Unchain the 50 events all across the U.S. and Canada.
Best Friends is a sponsor and is also participating in this event to raise awareness about the cruelty and danger of chaining or tethering dogs. Best Friends will be present at the location in Seattle and will also put on an Unchain the 50 event near its sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.
The Best Friends event will run from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 30, 2007 at Laid Back Larry’s in Kanab. Tom Corrigan, manager of nearby Fredonia, Arizona and president of the Fredonia Humane Society will chain himself for the event!We need your help to make this event a success and help tethered or chained dogs around the country and in Canada.
The goal is to raise awareness about the cruelty and danger of chaining or tethering dogs.
For more information and how you can participate in Unchain the 40 or otherwise help chained dogs, visit this site:
Unchain The 50 Kicks Off June 30