Dog attack spurs no-chain campaign

WEST VALLEY CITY — In response to a pit bull attack here earlier this month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has launched a campaign urging county residents to keep their dogs free from chains.

PETA plans to post a billboard either in West Valley City or in Salt Lake City in the coming weeks encouraging dog owners to "chain your door, not your dog." The animal-rights organization is also pushing for a countywide ordinance that would ban or restrict dog chaining.

"Many of the dogs who are chained are used as cheap alarm systems," PETA cruelty case worker Dan Paden said by phone from the group's Norfolk, Va., headquarters. "People mistakenly think that this is a humane practice and that it will keep their families safe. On the contrary, this is a cruel practice and it backfires when chained dogs develop aggression and attack children walking by and playing in the yard."

PETA says studies show dogs left on chains become overly territorial because they are confined to a small area. When a person gets too close, the dogs often attack.

A pit bull was euthanized at the West Valley Animal Shelter on Dec. 2 after it attacked two boys who were walking home from school. One of the boys received stitches. And a 4-year-old Orlando, Fla., boy died Wednesday evening after being bitten in the head by a relative's pit bull.

Paden said PETA supports the West Valley euthanization but said it could have been prevented by better treatment of the dog.

"An animal who has spent his entire life at the end of his chain is by definition unsocialized and dangerous and unadaptable," he said. "A painless death from a world that has only abused and neglected him is probably the best solution."

West Valley City animal control workers agree that chaining a dog is not the safest or most humane way to keep a dog from attacking.

"We don't necessarily condone chaining an animal up," shelter supervisor Karen Bird said. "I understand there may be circumstances that would warrant chaining it up," though she said a dog should only be chained for very short periods.

Instead, she said she recommends an enclosed kennel that includes a roof to protect the dog from weather and to keep it from jumping out. She emphasized that this applies to all dogs and that pit bulls are not the only potential problems.

And more importantly, she said, pet owners should spend time with their animals. Dogs are pack animals, she said, and become easily agitated when they spend too much time alone.