YORK COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) A debate on a tethering ordinance heated up in York County. The conversation started when York County Councilman Bump Roddey said at a recent council meeting that York County does not have an anti-tethering law.
Instead, Roddey says the current ordinance, which was passed in 2012, gives restrictions and conditions on tethering and chaining, but doesn’t prohibit. For Roddey, he says it’s about public safety.
“Obviously whatever mechanism you feel is necessarily for you to keep your neighbors and citizens safe, we want to be able to offer that to you as a dog owner, homeowner, because you’re responsible if that dog attacks anyone,” said Roddey .
This statement upset animal-rights activists who say chaining has not been allowed since 2012, and shouldn’t be allowed now. But Dr. Kelly Baete, a veterinarian at the Baxter Veterinary Clinic, says chaining can lead dogs to become more aggressive.
“It just creates a lot of behavioral problems because they have energy they can’t expend,” said Dr. Beate.
Roddey says he isn’t trying to introduce a new law, but will work with attorneys on rewriting the ordinance the way he says it was supposed to be written.
