OKLAHOMA CITY – A bipartisan pet protection measure focusing on the tethering of animals will be considered during the four-month legislative session that began February 7.
State Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, filed House Bill 2993, the Humane Tether Act of 2022, and Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, signed on as co-author.
The bill addresses a number of issues related to the treatment of pets, such as prohibiting individuals from chaining or tethering a dog outside “unless the tether is designed for dogs,” and use of logging chains “or other lines or devices not designed for tethering dogs” would be prohibited.
“Chained dogs are statistically more dangerous than even free-running packs of dogs because their unfortunate circumstances render them under-socialized, territorial, and prone to aggression,” Luttrell said. “We want to prevent putting dogs at risk from extreme weather conditions and an inability to access food, water, or basic shelter.”
HB 2993 has generated support from owners’ rights groups, “responsible” dog ownership groups, kennel clubs, hunters and farmers, Luttrell said. “For law enforcement and animal control officers, these ordinances create clear boundaries and expectations for pet owners. They allow for the employment and enforcement of citations and other penalties so the owner doesn’t just go back to inhumanely tethering animals after the officer leaves.”
“We pride ourselves on the ‘Oklahoma Standard’ – and of course that applies to our neighbors, but I believe it also applies to our pets, as well,” Dollens said. “Putting pets at risk of freezing due to inadequate shelter, tethering them in a manner that causes a choking hazard, and not providing food and clean water is animal cruelty, plain and simple
HB 2993 is “a bipartisan bill to make sure pet owners take responsibility for keeping their pets safe,” Dollens said.
“No person owning or keeping a dog shall subject the dog to cruel conditions or inhumane chaining or tethering at any time,” the bill provides.
“Cruel conditions” and “inhumane chaining or tethering” are defined in the measure as “filthy and dirty confinement conditions, including but not limited to exposure to excessive animal waste, garbage, dirty water, noxious odors, dangerous objects that could injure or kill a dog upon contact or other circumstances that could cause harm to a dog's physical or emotional health; taunting, prodding, hitting, harassing, threatening or otherwise harming a tethered or confined dog; or subjecting a dog to dangerous conditions, including attacks by other animals.”
Nothing in the proposed law would prohibit a person from walking a dog on a handheld leash, the bill stipulates.
Penalty could be fine
or loss of ownership
A dog could be kept outdoors if it were inside a pen or secure enclosure “that has adequate space and continuous access to clean water and appropriate shelter;” inside a fully fenced, electronically fenced “or an otherwise securely enclosed” yard; or with a trolley system or a tether attached to a pulley in a cable run, “if the following conditions are met: (a) only one dog shall be tethered to each cable run, (b) there shall be a swivel on at least one end of the tether to minimize tangling of the tether, and (c) the length of the tether from the cable run to the dog’s collar or harness shall allow continuous access to clean water and appropriate shelter at all times.”
For a first offense, a violator of the proposed state law would be issued a written warning or issued a fine of up to $50. A second offense would be punished by a fine of not more than $200. The penalty for a third or subsequent offense would be a fine of up to $500 and impoundment of the dog in a local shelter at the expense of the animal’s owner/keeper/guardian pending compliance with the statute, or loss of ownership of the dog.
Both legislators said there are different laws from county to county and throughout municipalities. HB 2993 is “aimed at setting a uniform state law that would make it easier for pet owners to understand what the rules and regulations are across the state,” Dollens said.
“If you think this is not an issue in your community that needs to be addressed, just ask your children and grandchildren if the treatment of pets is important to them,” Luttrell said.
“It’s literally freezing outside, and for the past hour I can hear the faint, pitiful bark of a dog somewhere in my neighborhood,” a northwest Oklahoma City resident posted February 2 on the Nextdoor blog. “BRING YOUR PETS IN! What is wrong with you?”
“A person shall not leave a dog outside when a weather advisory, warning or watch is issued by a local, state or federal authority in the area where the dog is located, or when outside environmental conditions – including but not limited to extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme wind, rain, snow or hail – pose an adverse risk to the health or safety of the dog,” HB 2993 decrees.
Dollens filed similar legislation, House Bill 1580, last year. That measure was inspired by the condition of a pup with a large chain padlocked around its neck that a constituent found in 2020, he said; the chain had started “digging into” the dog’s neck. Apparently, the pup was being trained to fight other dogs, Dollens said.
HB 1580 cleared a House committee but failed to advance after that. Rep. Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, chairman of the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, said a few animal control officers expressed some reservations about Dollens’ bill.
“The problem is enforcement” of the bill’s provisions, Worthen said. “How would a police officer or animal control officer take those circumstances and make a viable case?” The officer would have to personally witness the actions, or persuade someone who may have seen the abuse “to take time off work and testify in court against someone who may be their next-door neighbor.”