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Chained in Chicago, 24 Hours,
June 27-28 Group Chains Themselves to Trees at Capitol to
Oppose Chained Dogs http://network.bestfriends.org 12:00 Noon: I've only been chained two hours and already I am starting to count down, okay only 22 more hours to go. The collar I am wearing is a lightweight fabric and the heavy six foot long chain weighs about 1 ½ pounds. With each turn of my head I feel the heaviness of this chain and the collar raking my neck. I try to adjust it to make it feel better and think to myself this is only two hours; I've got 22 more to go. How am I going to be able to get through this? Then I say to myself I must do this; I have to endure this for the dogs, the ones that nobody sees, and the ones that are ignored. I am their voice today and so I endure. I endure through the
sweltering 100 or more heat and humidity that Austin is known for. I'm lucky I am not wearing a fur coat. I've got on a Dogs Deserve Better t-shirt, light weight yoga pants, and sneakers, but I can feel the sweat run down my back. Even in the shade there is no relief. I can only imagine how it would be with all that fur, fleas eating at my flesh, and no water to help cool myself down. I can stand, stretch, walk to the end of my chain, and sit back down, already wishing that I could get off this chain. And yes, realistically I can undo this collar, take this chain off, and call it a day, but then what kind of advocate would I be? So I leave the collar right where it is and in my mind I tell all those chained dogs out there that this is for them.
Local Animal Advocates Will Chain Themselves to Doghouses
Nonprofit group protests chaining of dogs
A national nonprofit group put itself in the doghouse Sunday.
The organization, Dogs Deserve Better, organized a nationwide protest to raise awareness about the cruelty of chaining Volunteers said they now know what it feels like to be a dog chained up for long periods of time."People just walk by you and they ignore you. It's like you don't even exist and I can only imagine how a chained dog in a back yard feels," protester Cheryl Kaminski said. The group is in its sixth year of protesting the chaining of animals. Texas is one of two states that set time limits on chaining. The group said the City of Austin does well by banning the practice altogether. Local animal activists literally make their point AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- Local animal activists put themselves in the doghouse on Saturday, literally.They were chaining themselves to doghouses on the lawn of the State Capitol to raise awareness about cruelty to dogs. The unusual "chain off" is a part of a week-long event.Statistics show an estimated 6 million dogs live most or all of their lives chained up Cheryl is going to remain chained to the doghouse for 24 hours. She's says that discomfort is nothing compared to what animals go through everyday across the country.
Group fights to ban dog chaining in U.S. By Sean Beherec Timothy Verret sat with a chained collar around his neck in front of the Capitol this weekend, accompanied by his three-legged dog.
Verret, the co-founder of Chain Free Austin, a group that lobbied for a city ordinance to ban the chaining of dogs in Austin, joined about a dozen other demonstrators for a nationwide 24-hour protest against animal cruelty associated with the practice of chaining.  The demonstration, which lasted from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday, also supported legislation barring the practice. Chaining unattended dogs has been illegal in Austin since October, but there are several cities that still allow the practice, said Cheryl Kaminski, a local organizer for Dogs Deserve Better, the national group that organized the demonstration. Kaminski was the only demonstrator who sat for 24 hours. A dozen other demonstrators took four-hour shifts. Verrett said he rescued his dog after it was chained in a yard with a broken leg, which was later amputated. Verret, who sat for four hours, said that as people passed the spectacle he wanted them to think about is what life is like for a chained dog. The Saturday morning demonstration was a part of a 24-hour marathon of individuals aroundthe country speaking out against chaining dogs and supporting legislation barring the practice. "You have to put yourself in their paws," Kaminski said. "We can be their voice." Austin's chain-free ordinance passed unanimously last July when it was proposed to city council. The group also raises money to build fences for low-income families who might otherwise be forced to chain their dogs. Other cities in Texas have passed chain-free ordinances, including Dallas, Georgetown and Fort Worth, Verret said. "Literally, it's creating a chain effect," he said. The demonstrations are held throughout the country around Independence Day, sometimes drawing dozens of people in each city. Last year more than 100 people throughout the country participated in demonstrations that took place in 36 states, according to the Dogs Deserve Better Web site. "I would like that those chain-free laws are passed throughout Texas and the country," Kaminski said. "If you don't want a dog as part of your family, you shouldn't have one." Passerby Holly Moore, who is a resident of Irving, a city just west of Dallas, said the demonstration helped her understand how a chain-free ordinance can be constructed and passed in a city council. "Obviously we want to do things to keep our pets safe," Moore said. "Who wouldn't want to participate in that if they knew it was good for their dog?" Austin residents can report unattended chained dogs by calling 311.
Local animal activists literally make their point
Posted: June 28, 2008 08:26 PM EDT AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- Local animal activists put themselves in the doghouse on Saturday, literally.They were chaining themselves to doghouses on the lawn of the State Capitol to raise awareness about cruelty to dogs. The unusual "chain off" is a part of a week-long event.Statistics show an estimated 6 million dogs live most or all of their lives chained up."If you have a dog.. that dog needs to be with the family. There pack animals they want to be with their people they don't want to be in a backyard by themselves. It's only it's isolating," said Cheryl Kaminski with Dogs Deserve Better. Cheryl is going to remain chained to the doghouse for 24 hours. She's says that discomfort is nothing compared to what animals go through everyday across the country. 2008 Dogs Deserve Better Chain Off VENUE: Towne Square Community Park COST: Free View event Web site DESCRIPTION: Please, "rough it." Sit on the ground (a blanket is OK but no chairs); don't spend the time reading or watching TV. Speak to the media and others interested in your activities, of course, and only get off your chain to use the restroom as needed, unless there's an emergency! The goal is to really understand what it's like to live as a chained dog to become a more effective advocate. Why Exhibit at the Chain-Off 2008? http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6872033&version
If you'd like to donate via regular USPS mail, send to P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684 or you may call 1.877.636.1408 to use Visa/Mastercard/AmEx Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit education/legislation/rescue organization. Your donations are tax-deductible according to IRS guidelines. |
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As each minute and hour passes this heavy chain that is only six feet long keeps tugging at my neck. I just want it OFF now! I want to MOVE, RUN - anything just to get away from this one little isolating and depressing spot that I am calling home. I want to shout at the people passing by LOOK AT ME! ACKNOWLEDGE ME!! But I don't. I sit and watch the world pass me by, ignored as though I didn't exist. The sheer boredom is something that is hard to put into words and as I sit here, I feel more and more depressed, isolated and emotional. I think of all the dogs out there that are living like this, day in and day out in the heat, cold, rain, and snow and I want to cry for each and every one of them because although I have only been at this for a few hours, they live out their entire lives this way - a mere existence in a shell of a body.
how many hours you spend on the end of a chain you will never really truly feel what it is like to be a chained dog, because they are unable to communicate their discomforts, aches and pains, depression, isolation and boredom. Most chained dogs are stuck in the back of a yard alone; some nobody even know they are alive, and yet these dogs never give up hoping that one day someone will notice them, love them, and change their world by breaking those chains and bringing them in to be part of the family.
