Anti-Tethering In N.C. Passes

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Orange County, NC Finally Passes Anti-Tethering Ordinance


Breeder Exposed by Newspaper
Orange County, NC - After nearly two years and one major scandal, Orange County finally passed an anti-tethering law. Pit bull breeders have substantial pull in the county. Tom Garner, a well-known breeder of pit bulls, who was convicted of dogfighting in 1985, lives in area. As you can see from his property, Garner will now have to cease chaining his pit bulls.

When Orange County created a citizens' committee to study an anti-tethering ordinance, a woman named Alane Koki applied to become a member. She submitted a 13-page resume citing numerous accomplishments as a scientist and medical researcher: a doctorate in zoology, a dozen patents, and publication in more than 50 journals. Koki seemed a fine appointee for the seat designated for an "animal wellness/health expert." She was placed on the panel on February 6th, 2007.

Breeders of pit bulls oppose anti-tethering laws and all laws designed to regulate pit bulls. One might think that "good" breeders would endorse mandatory spay/neuter laws to stop backyard breeding, but they do not.​

What Koki failed to list in her application was her long history of breeding pit bulls in other states and her association with local kennel owner Tom Garner, whom commissioners declined to appoint to the committee the same night they approved Koki. As details emerged about Koki's background, however, officials worried that her membership on the committee was an attempt to scuttle any potential limitations on tethering -- a common practice used by breeders and trainers of fighting dogs.

Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson said, "There's so much money in dogfighting, now that I look back with 20/20 hindsight, I shouldn't be surprised that the dogfighting lobby would go to lengths like this -- they have a lot to lose." Web sites for Tom Garner Kennels and Koki's Thundermaker Bulldogs showed several examples of offspring resulting from breeding their dogs to each other. Garner, however, denied having any business relationship with Koki, including that he ever bred his dogs to hers.

"On archived versions of the Thundermaker Bulldogs Web site, which include a picture of Koki cuddling a dog, descriptions of individual pit bulls detail bloodlines for several generations. For example, one Thundermaker "stud" listed in 2001 named "Goodson's Dozerboy" lists Garner's dog, "Garner's Frisco" as his sire and "Garner's Ch Chinaman" as his grandsire. Asked about those bloodline connections, Garner says he "is unaware of [Koki] having a Web site." The only connection he has with Koki, he says, centers on a study she's conducting about the effects of tethering on dogs."​

The scandal also uncovered additional aspects of Koki:

• Koki had been investigated for being involved in breeding dogs for fighting. On July 7, 2006, authorities in Dane County, WI, taped a conversation between Koki and a man named Robert Lowery, a former sheriff's deputy accused of dogfighting and drug trafficking. A transcript of the conversation was introduced as evidence in Lowery's trial.
• Pennsylvania officials had been investigating Koki for nearly a year, after discovering about 50 pit bulls on her property in Mohrsville, PA, according to Harry Brown, responsible for animal control in the county. Koki did not have the license required to keep more than 26 dogs, and several months into the investigation, most of her dogs were removed.
• It was also unclear whether Koki actually lived in Orange County (a requirement for serving on the study committee). She listed a home phone in Pennsylvania on her resume and she was not registered to vote in North Carolina, though she offered a street address of 215 Ashe St. in Hillsborough, a house in a run-down neighborhood surrounded by a privacy fence.

Koki resigned from the committee after Ashley B. Roberts of the Orange County Independent Weekly exposed her.

Related articles:
11/16/08: Massive Dogfighting Sting in Harris County, Texas

 

Guess they will be happy when someone gets bit..We are under attack getting hit from every end...

 

Jesus lord don't they know chains are for the breeds/publics own damn good! What next? I swear BS :rolleyes::mad:

 

Three hours is a very short time. That's worse than the 6 hours tried to impose in SC.

 

What part of "these dogs will most likely not play nice with other dogs" do people seem to be missing? Why would you intentionally put them together into a living space where confrontation is sure to happen? The more people pass these laws is the more I think we might as well be explaining this to 5 year olds

 

I often wonder if these laws being passed is a set up for our breed to fail. To have the apbt banned alltogether. I truly am starting to think that it is. These laws are just egging BSL on even more. You may as well just give anyone the right to own a gun without any safty laws this is truly sad :mad: .

 

Seems like the tethering had nothing to do with the "wellness" of dogs, but to say, "In your face TG and pit bull owners." They seemed to just want to get rid of TG and the rest of the APBT owners, big surprise there, a hidden motive.

Chapel Hill and Carrboro have their own animal protection rules. These rules require wholesome food at least every 24 hours in a clean dish; fresh, sanitary drinking water and clean, dry shelter.

24 hours of food? So, they want fat unhealthy dogs as well.

 

its simply NIMBY at work

 

I think it reads as they have to be fed at least once every 24 hours. Maybe I'm wrong but that is how I read it. :confused:
Anti tethering is ridiculous, I don't know what they set out to do with it but it's only harming the responsible. The irresponsible will still stick their dog/s out to a tree and use one of those wimpy chains you find at a pet store for the collar too...voila, embedded collar or choked dog. They will still get away with that kind of sh*t. Angers me so badly.