[violaine]

hi. i met with the chief animal control officer earlier this afternoon, and we spoke for two hours. later on, i will post to this thread about the meeting, which went very well.

here are a few ideas about the tethered dog next door, please, as i am founder of a committee who handle calls about chained/tethered dogs all of the time. now, bear in mind we tend to get 'creative' with situations/people. circumstances [human behaviour] will not be the same, and also, if i do not have any luck at the address, someone else on my team may try to visit at another time.

always remain respectful. no matter what! it's worth it - for the dear dog to keep lines of communication positive/open. the people may be a change of heart the very next day.

have you contacted the local humane society to see if there is a humane educator, or a committee who accepts calls for evaluating chained/tethered dogs?

if there is such a committee, like ours for example, we have funds to supply the human[s] with equipment [until ordinances/laws here are amended and passed for limited hours tethered, and/or a ban. i think if your animal control shelter is using gas for euthanasia, that is the worst, and you are not terribly far behind my county- who are just now coming into the 21st century as an animal control shelter].

another option, if no such committee exists, is to gently approach the people yourself, and if you can afford to purchase a trolley offer it to the family- some of these systems are 100', and will, if properly installed, be safe for the dog and provide a great deal more exercise than what is available at the moment for the dog living next door to you.

i try scenarios [believe me, i've come up with lots!] like: i was wondering if you all could use this trolley, my auntie gave it to me because i thought of adopting a dog. changed my mind, and i do not need it. i noticed you have a dog. would you like help putting it up for him/her?

variations of story work- just whatever feels comfortable to you. with the supplies we have, [food/dog houses/trolley systems, et c], sometimes i will stop and communicate to the people that i am driving around trying to give away excess supplies because summer is upon us, and we have limited storage. we try to keep it real simple. people can feel embarrassed and/or defensive, but most often we find the opposite is true, and the dogs are happier in the end. which makes the people feel better and possibly more open to even bringing the dog inside some of the time [another lengthy post! if i am lucky enough to talk my foot into the door with the humans ]

i hope the situation improves for the dog. thank you for noticing and caring.

belle