Area citizens are speaking out against unattended dog tethering as commissioners inch toward possibly phasing out the practice.
The Nassau Board of County Commissioners approved imposing a 12-hour limit on tethering dogs May 22. This decreases the time duration from previous language that allowed tethering for a 24-hour period, according to Nassau County Animal Services Director Tim Maguire.
The item was again discussed Aug. 28 after Maguire presented an update on what animal control officers discovered during site visits between May 23 and Aug. 18.
Maguire said there were 17 “direct tether complaint calls” with one warning issued, along with directives for followup visits.
In five of the cases, the animals were tethered and not in compliance, according to Maguire. In two cases, the dogs were relocated to a home where Maguire said the dogs would not be tethered and in six cases where owners acknowledged a need to comply. Three cases remained open because attempts to reach the owners were not successful, Maguire said.
Of the 16 complaints obtain-
ed by the Record, one was in Bryceville, three were in Callahan and four were in Hilliard. Yulee and Fernandina Beach had four complaints each.
Maguire said that animal control officers each have a copy of the updated ordinance in their possession to review with pet owners. Residents are also given a pamphlet that outlines ways to keep dogs secure in proper shelters, provide fresh food and water, replace tight collars, spay and neuter and pet care for outdoor dogs in general.
Animal activist David Fashingbauer opposes unattended dog tethering. He would like to see the county eliminate dog tethering altogether by the year’s end.
The East Side resident also has issues with how parts of the ordinance are written. He questions if NCAS has the wherewithal to enforce it.
“Fernandina Beach passed an attended tethering only ordinance, so if you step outside of visual range, the owner, if caught, could be in violation,” Fashingbauer said. “In Nassau County if you are not in visual range, you can tether an animal.”
He voiced concern about an animal’s welfare when living on a tether.
“You could never prove that the person is outside of visual range, making the ordinance impossible to enforce,” Fashingbauer said. “The other problem they’ve done is that your dog can be tethered unsupervised for 12 hours within a 24-hour time period.”
He said that sections of the ordinance in relation to defining a dog’s water quality, tethers and collars are vague. He questioned the definition of animal abandonment because, in his opinion, the ordinance does not provide enough verbiage about what constitutes abandonment.
“The cause of the problem is irresponsible pet owners,” he said. “A well-written ordinance will act as a guide to responsible pet ownership. Education is the key but you have to have legislation. Without the ordinance, you can’t have enforcement.”
According to Nassau County Ordinance No. 2017-12, which updates a 2004 ordinance on the issue, tethers “must be attached to the animal by a properly applied buckle-type nylon or leather collar or halter or harness, with a swivel hook and configured so as to protect the animal from injury and prevent entanglement with other objects and/or animals.”
“The tether shall not be attached to a stationary object or trolley at a point or location that would allow the animal to extend the tether over a fence or other object or edge in such a manner that could result in the strangulation of or injury to an animal,” the amended ordinance notes.
Maguire said the ordinance can be enforced.
“The majority of the time when this is going to be enforced is when neighbors will call on each other and be willing to fill out an affidavit and testify in court. Because if they can fill out the affidavit but not show up to court, it gets thrown out. That affidavit enables us to write the citation, and we get in the middle of the feuds.”
Still, residents are concerned about dogs that are tethered for lengthy periods.
Debra Waller sees dogs tethered in Hilliard.
“I love animals,” she said. “I thought it was against the law to have a dog chained to a tree.”
She knows of four dogs in Hilliard that stay outside attached to tethers.
“They’re out in the rain and they don’t have any shelter,” Waller said.
She doesn’t know if the dogs are able to get loose or if the dogs are ever let off the tether to exercise.
“Ninety-seven percent of the time, they are chained up,” Waller said.
Dog tethering concerns Cindy Williams. She knows of a small dog in Callahan that lacks shelter as it stays outside most of the day, attached to a tether.
“I don’t think that dogs or any animals should be tethered for 12 hours,” she said, adding that she isn’t against limited tethering if a pet owner is outside to do yard work and has the animal under supervision.
“It puts the dog in such jeopardy to tether a puppy that is generally a house puppy with no food or water or shelter,” Williams said.
She said that the county should do what is right for the protection of animals.
“Our county commissioners need to do something about this,” Williams said. “They need to make the right changes. The old way of doing things is going out.”
During the Aug. 28 meeting, the county commission again asked for 90-day monitoring of dog tethering in Nassau County so that residents may be educated about the new ordinance. Maguire will update the board in November.
Fashingbauer said he expects the county staff and commission to make progress.
“If (when) Nassau County passes an attended-tethering-only ordinance it will be the smallest Florida county (by population) to do so,” he wrote via email. “Animal advocates in every small county in Florida and perhaps even in the southeastern U.S. will take notice. Not only will Nassau County move into the 21st Century in terms of animal welfare, but we will be recognized as a leader in the state.”