DOGS DESERVE BETTER

There are tons of different kinds of rescue groups, and in fact, there are so many of them that I can't possibly tell you about them all.  Whenever there is something that needs to be rescued, like a guinea pig or a wild horse or a parrot, someone has probably made a group to rescue it.  And even within certain types of rescue groups, such as groups that rescue dogs, there are specialized kinds of rescue.  And that's what the group I'm going to talk about today does.  They rescue dogs that have been living all chained up in their yards.

This group is called Dogs Deserve Better, and they have representatives all over the country who are trying to get dogs out of bad situations where they have to live in small pens or else are chained up all the time.  Also the group tries to get laws passed that will make it illegal to tether your dog, or at least to tether it for more than maybe three hours at a time.  Oh, and guess what else the group is doing:  they are going to buy Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels and turn them into a Good Newz Rehab Center for dogs that have been chained or penned!

Personally, I don't understand why anybody would get a dog and then tie it out in the yard and never let it come in the house.  This just seems WRONG to me because clearly a dog should be sleeping in a nice, soft bed, especially on cold nights.  But some people keep their dogs outside all the time, day and night.  This can make a dog feel really crazy because there he is, with a chain that is only maybe 6 feet or 8 feet long.  And the dog can't go any further than the length of that chain without choking himself or having the chain dig into his neck.

Then in the winter it gets really cold outside, and in the summer, it's really hot.  The dog may not have much shelter from this yucky weather, so sometimes dogs freeze to death or die of heat stroke.  Also they might not have as much water as they need, or they might knock their water over.  And sometimes people who chain their dog outside forget to feed the dog or give the dog fresh water or play with the dog.  So dogs that are chained up might starve to death or they might strangle themselves if their chain gets tangled up or if they try to jump over a fence.

Another thing that happens with dogs on a tether is that they don't get socialized, so they can be really aggressive, especially if someone comes into their space.  And sometimes kids are mean to chained-up dogs, and cruel people might steal the dogs or shoot at them or torture them or poison them.  These poor dogs can't get away because of the chain, so they are scared all the time and that makes them want to bite anybody who comes close.  There have been some studies that showed that chained dogs are three times more likely to bite than dogs who are not chained.

Also, wild animals can attack dogs that are chained up, and if a female dog is in season, she will get visits from all the male dogs in the neighborhood, and then there will be a litter of unwanted puppies.  Besides that, dogs who live on chains usually don't get proper medical care.  And they have to live all alone, even though dogs are very social animals who like to live in packs.  So that's another sad thing to think about.

Anyway, Dogs Deserve Better does a lot of work to help get dogs off of their chains and make life better for them.  DDB lets groups from all around the country put links on their site to show the dogs that are now available for adoption after living on a chain before.  There are other organizations who are working to get dogs unchained, too, especially by trying to get laws passed.  For example, the ASPCA does this, and so does PETA.

So if you know somebody who keeps their dog on a chain, maybe you can talk to that person and try to convince them that the dog would be lots happier living inside.  And you might also tell the person that dogs who bond with their families make much better guard dogs than dogs that are left outside to "guard" the house.  If this person doesn't listen to you, it might be time to call your local animal control officer.  Either that or you should bite this person on the ankle, which is what I would do!  Because dogs don't belong on chains, and if there is anything you can do to help make life better for one of these dogs, please do it!