Bryan Wilson will spend July 4th chained to a dog house in a Sanford park where the 39-year-old will spend eight hours tethered in the hot sun. It’s part of a national "Chain Off" event that highlights something many Americans never question: keeping a dog on a chain. Dogs are highly social animals, and experts say prolonged isolation on a chain is both cruel and dangerous. It can make a once-docile, happy creature turn aggressive, neurotic and viciously territorial.

"Something as innocuous as a child coming up to pet the dog can be seen as a threat," said Wilson of Winter Springs. He and his wife, Carla Wilson, have lobbied Seminole County to pass an anti-tethering law that limits or bans keeping dogs chained up. They have considerable backing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared the continuous tethering of dogs "inhumane" back in 1996. Both the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Humane Society of the United States have condemned the practice. Yet, an estimated 6 million dogs in this country spend most of their lives chained up.

Wilson will take no breaks during his stint but he will have access to food and water, as the law now requires for dogs. "That’s one of the few protections," Wilson said. "But many times chained dogs can end up seriously injuring or even strangling themselves." Nationally, 110 cities and counties, including Orange, have limits on tethering. While the Wilsons hope Seminole will follow suit, Morgan Woodward, the county’s animal services manager, said changes are still being researched.  The biggest problem, he said, are in "lower-income areas where they can’t afford to put a fence around their home, but want to have an animal as a pet."