You've heard the saying before: “You don't know what someone else is going through until you've spent a day in their shoes.”  Well, in a sense, that's what some Lowcountry animal rights activists did Tuesday by chaining themselves to dog houses.

If you're passionate enough about a cause, putting your pride aside to gain another believer is a pretty fair trade.

“People look at us like, “What in the world are you doing?" Kim Bonturi with Chain-free Beaufort said.

"I cannot even imagine what these dogs go through when they live like his,” Jae Horn-Gerber of Hilton Head said.

Anchored down by chains and tethers, they're as free-spirited as they come.
"We choose to have a dog, they don't choose who they get to live with.  A lot of times they're forgotten about.  They live their whole entire lives on a chain,” Bonturi said.

It's an act that's ultimately linked these people together, giving them strength to work toward tougher laws against chaining dogs while using funds to educate and assist.  And by chaining themselves for just eight hours, they hope the looks and stares have a lot of minds turning and ondering if any of it makes sense.

Chain-free Beaufort was formed after Beaufort County Council nixed the idea of an nti-chain or tethering law.  The group attends local festivals and events to gain signatures for a petition against dog chaining.