On Tuesday, February 17th, 2015, the Gwinnett County, Georgia Board of Commissioners chose to table proposed changes to the county's Animal Control Ordinance. The proposed changes, authored by Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement shelter management and approved by Gwinnett's Animal Advisory Committee, include:

 - Removing the "one hour" exception to the ban on tethering animals, requiring that an owner must be outside and in the view of the tethered animal the entire time it is tethered.

- Changing the time a stray animal must be held from adoption or rescue from five days to three days. Also adds a provision for any eligible litters to be available for adoption/rescue immediately.

- Changing the time a stray animal must be held before it can be euthanized from five days to six days.

- Bringing Gwinnett ordinance in line with Georgia's 2012 Responsible Dog Owners Act.

The removal of the one hour tethering exception is critical as the current ordinance is effectively unenforceable. Gwinnett Animal Control and Gwinnett County Police do not have the time or resources to monitor dogs to see if they are left outside for more than one consecutive hour. Violators have merely to claim that they "just" put the dog out on tether - effectively allowing owners to chain their dogs outside 24/7.

It has come to light that the real reason that the changes were tabled is that some of the commissioners are opposed to any change in the tethering law – in effect, allowing unlimited tethering of unattended dogs to continue in the county.

 Without the community making clear that chaining dogs in Gwinnett is unacceptable, there is a very good chance that this needed change will not make it into law.

 Under the current ordinance, dogs may legally be tethered unattended for up to one hour each day. What the law does, in effect, is allow owners to tether their dogs for unlimited amounts of time, as owners can claim, repeatedly, that the dog has “just” been put outside. Enforcement of the law would require a Gwinnett County officer to observe the dog outside on the tether for more than an hour – and officers do not have the time or resources to do that.

 Research has repeatedly shown that dogs that are tethered outside for extended periods of time are more likely to be aggressive towards humans and a greater bite risk.

Allowing the current exemption to continue is bad for Gwinnett's dogs and bad for Gwinnett's public safety. Currently, Chatham County, DeKalb County, Fulton County, Athens-Clarke County, Douglas County, Bibb County, Houston County all prohibit unattended tethering.

We ask all concerned Gwinnett County residents to sign this petition to let the Commissioners know that we do not support tethered dogs, and demand they pass the proposed changes to the Animal Control ordinance in full, including removing the one hour exemption.

The full text of the current Gwinnett Animal Control Ordinance can be found here.

Details of the proposed changes to the current ordinances are listed below.

Definitions:

Adequate Space – Recommended change created by the Animal Advisory Council that changes the amount of pen space that is required for each animal owned by citizens in the county.

Dangerous Dog – Change made due to follow RDOA (Georgia's Responsible Dog Ownership Law", OCGA 4-8-1 through 4-8-33, signed into law in 2012).

Eligible Litters – Defined what a litter is, explained in 10-34.

Owner – Added to definition to follow RDOA.

Potentially dangerous dog – Deleted to follow RDOA.

Severe Injury – Deleted to follow RDOA

Serious Injury – Added to follow RDOA

Vicious Dog – Change made to follow RDOA.

 10-29(c)(1): Removes the one hour exception for tethering ordinance, making it where an owner must be outside and in view of the animal at all times it is tethered.

10-34: Changes the hold times from five (5) days to three (3) days. Also adds provision for any eligible litters to be available for adoption/rescue immediately. Section (a) also broken up into (a) and (b) to make the ordinance clear.

10-35: Title changed to Reclaim of Impounded Animals. Clarifies what processes are followed by Animal Control if an owner is known. This provision was already in the ordinance, however it was too vague. Also adds provision for mandatory microchipping of the animal on the first offense of the dog or cat being impounded. Fees will be paid at the time of reclaim.

10-36: Corrects the time an animal is eligible for euthanization if an owner is known. Letter (a) adds an additional day from five (5) to six(6) before an animal is eligible for euthanization if ownership is not known. Letter (b) changed “destroyed” to “euthanized.” Letter (c) deleted and replaced with wording that would allow Animal Control Officers to euthanize animals without a veterinarian.

10-37: Deleted in its entirety to comply with RDOA. Left sections as “Reserved.”

10-39(d): Added a provision for livestock to be able to be sold or slaughtered for consumption. Added that livestock cannot be slaughtered or consumed if the animal had been tranquilized or darted.

10-41: Verbiage change – deleted animal or to make the wording correct.

10-42: Changed the title of section to “Rabies Vaccination Certificates.” Spelling correction in paragraph that changed posses to possess.

10-45: Added ferrets to all sections to comply with the State of Georgia Rabies Control Manual.

10-51: Change recommended by the Animal Advisory Council. Letter (b)(1) deleted intruder and added a longer explanation. Letter (b)(4) added to allow one statement for barking with additional evidence such as video footage of the animal barking.

10-56: Change recommended by the Animal Advisory Council. Added selling/giving away of animals to the section.

Article II: Added and replaced entire section with the new RDOA language to follow State law. The majority of this section is entirely new.