You wake up because the sun is in your face and the birds are chirping like mad.  It is Spring! The flowers are blooming, the bees buzzing and the sun is out.  Yippee!  You stretch and decide it’s time for a cup of coffee; but first a bathroom break (drank a lot of water last night).  You grab the cup of coffee and head over to the window to check if your roses are blooming yet but ack..gag…you can’t quite get there.  Okay, you think, I will go outside and visit with my neighbor – I see she’s out this morning working in her garden. So you head in the other direction towards the French doors; coffee on the patio would be great.  Ack…gag…cough, you are yanked backwards; you sigh a very long sigh.  The fifteen foot chain you are on just won’t allow that much movement.  This is useless, you cry out as you hang your head, may as well skip the coffee and head back to bed.

That is an idea of what YOUR life would be like living on a chain all the time.  What enjoyment?  What freedom?  Spring?  Who cares?  Think about the joy of seeing a dog rush outside in the morning; sniffing and snorting and just being alive with the pleasures of a new day.  Now think of that same dog chained up to a tree or a post.  Day in, day out, hot, cold, snowing or raining.  His world becomes a circle; an area the length of his tether.  Is this dog happy?  No one will ever convince me that a chained dog can ever achieve doggie happiness. You might say “but we don’t have a fence and the dog runs off so we chain him to keep him safe”.  Do you blame him for running off?    Dogs are social.  Dogs need stimulation like toys, chewing, digging, running, sniffing, rolling, other dogs: they need to be dogs not hamsters in a cage.

The Humane Society of the United States is asking animal lovers to help with the campaign to educate folks about this sad way to “care” for a dog.   People who chain dogs say it is for protection, or because the dog is aggressive, or the dog has behavioral problems like digging or urinating in the house.  I say: how can a dog be a guard dog if he is on a chain?  The thief can just walk past the part of the yard the dog can’t reach.  The dog is probably aggressive towards people or other animals because of being chained up and/or not being properly socialized as a pup.  Digging – the dog is bored.  Not house-trained – hmmm – whose job is that, the dog’s or yours?  There are absolutely no rational reasons to permanently chain a dog; there are excuses but not valid reasons.

The next time you take your evening stroll around the neighborhood and start to walk across the street to avoid that house with the snarling, barking dog who lunges at you only to be yanked back by his chain; instead print out this document and put it in the occupant’s mailbox or at the front door.  Follow up by talking to them about how they are harming the free spirit of their “pet”.  How it is dangerous for the dog to be chained as he could hang himself or choke to death if he winds himself around something too tightly.  And if that doesn’t work; save the dog.  Call your local humane society or animal control and report this inhumane behavior.  Check your town’s regulations on chaining dogs.  Most have an ordinance forbidding it.  If your town does not, do something about it.  We need to help these poor animals.  They cannot undo the chain, dial 911 or help themselves.  This abuse will not be stopped without our help.   

Living; having life; being alive; not dead

Or

Living: burning or glowing, as a coal.  Flowing freely, as water.