Dogs in Chains. Tethering is Animal Cruelty!

According to WorldAtlas.com a list of 50 countries was compiled by World Animal Protection to grade each country based on the way they treat animals. Although this is a short list compared to the number of countries in the world it does a fairly good job of showing which parts of the world are doing a good job of protecting animals and showing where there needs to be more work done.

I am sad to report that the United States has a grade of D. For all the groups that lobby on behalf of animal rights you would think we were doing better. This list does not differentiate between domestic, commercially farmed, and wild animals. Unfortunately, this country has deficits in the protection of all three categories.

According to a report done by Michigan State University in 2021 there are only about 23 states that have tethering laws regarding dogs. Here is a link to the report so you can see where your state stands on this issue. Map of State Dog Tethering Laws | Animal Legal & Historical Center (animallaw.info)

After reviewing most of the laws on the books, I am disappointed to see how ambiguous and lax most of the laws are. For example, my own state of North Carolina has one of the shortest laws on the topic:

A person who maliciously restrains a dog using a chain or wire grossly in excess of the size necessary to restrain the dog safely is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. For purposes of this section, "maliciously" means the person imposed the restraint intentionally and with malice or bad motive.