A law that would prohibit Hillsborough County dog owners from tying up their pets outside moved closer to reality Wednesday.
County commissioners voted 7-0 to have the county attorney draft an anti-tethering ordinance. The proposed law must go through a public hearing before commissioners take a final vote.
The county's Animal Advisory Committee recommended the ordinance, but the proposed language was a compromise that some animal rights activists said didn't go far enough.
Commissioner Ken Hagan proposed amendments that were adopted to make protections in the law stronger and conform to anti-tethering ordinances passed in other Florida jurisdictions.
Among the changes: Eliminating tethering of puppies, dogs on farms or unsupervised dogs, and limiting the weight of a dog collar to one-eighth of the dog's weight.
Sandra Fleischman, speaking in favor of the ordinance, passed a heavy chain and collar around so commissioners could feel it while she talked.
She said the collar was on a dog that had been stolen and tethered outside a Zephyrhills trailer for six months with other dogs. Neighbors complained about the treatment but animal control officers said there was nothing they could do because the dogs had a tree for shade and a bowl for food or water.
"Now if chaining was illegal, they could have gone on the property immediately, scanned the dog and realized that" it was stolen," Fleischman said.
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