GA: Bainbridge: Humane society president requests tethering ban

Citizen wants city to change animal law

By Carol Heard (Contact) | Post-Searchlight
Published Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The president of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Humane Society requested Tuesday the Bainbridge City Council amend its animal control ordinance to outlaw tethering of animals and to ensure that the animal's owners provide adequate shelter.

Pam Immendorf, president of the Humane Society, spoke to the mayor and city council members about the latest two instances of animal cruelty and pleaded with the council to amend the city's animal control ordinance.

Last week, a five-month-old dog, named Omni, was found with a cord embedded in its neck. Immendorf said the dog was lucky because she will survive and eventually heal, which hasn't been the case in several previous collar-embedded cases.

"It's so sad because it is so preventable. It's pure negligence when this happens," Immendorf said.

Also, there was a case of a dog found dead Friday while tethered by a large chain to a tree, apparently without adequate shelter and water.

Officers could do nothing to its owners.

Immendorf said the city's ordinance doesn't outlaw tethering of animals, but the Decatur County animal control law does, and she said the city needs to amend its ordinance to outlaw the practice.

Tethering is a contributor to dog aggression, Immendorf said, and it is commonly used among those persons who take up dog fighting.

By outlawing tethering of an animal, Immendorf said it would be one more tool Public Safety officers can use to pursue those who participate in dog fighting.

The council and mayor took no action nor spoke in response to Immendorf's comments.

The Post-Searchlight | Citizen wants city to change animal law