Allison Black Cornelius, the CEO of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS), is speaking out in support of Senate Bill 361 (SB361). The bill would require certain methods when tethering or confining a dog and would impose a criminal penalty for violations. It would also authorize county and municipal animal control to enforce the law.
"Every single day, our animal control officers respond to calls from citizens who are calling every day, even today, even yesterday, even last night, telling us that dogs are chained up outside," Cornelius said. "No shelter, no water. It's cold, it's hot. There's a tornado coming. There's bad weather coming, and nothing we do most of the time works to try to get these animals saved. "And that's why this bill, Senate Bill 361, y'all are going to get sick of me talking about it, that's why it matters."
SB361 would prohibit dog owners from tethering a dog to a stationary object, such as a tree or stake, unless the dog is on a trolley system. The tether would have to have a swivel on both ends and allow the dog continuous access to food, water and shelter.
Cornelius said the bill's sponsor, State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman), contacts her every year before the Legislative Session and asks what he can do to help animals. However, she said, often special interests get in the way of passing a bill. With SB361, she said things have moved along smoothly because Gudger and State Rep. Phillip Ensler (D-Montgomery) have worked together across the aisle.
"Phillip Enzler and Garland Gudger are the only two elected officials since I've been at GBHS that have ever called me proactively and said, 'What can we do?" she said. "But this year, they didn't just ask the question. Both of them stepped up, worked with leaders in agriculture, law enforcement, animal welfare, county commissioners' association, to try to come up with a bill that everybody could live with," Cornelius said. "And even though Rep. Enzler worked to try to advance his bill, it became clear that it was going to be defeated, and so Sen. Gudger put a bill forward."
The bill passed the Senate and is now headed to the House Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.
"Our team has spent years working toward a moment like this where we can finally say that you cannot chain a dog in the state of Alabama," said Cornelius. "And where we can say, 'That shelter, it can't be in standing water because water, I'm going to shock everybody, especially you Tennessee fans, it freezes when it goes below 30. It freezes. And if a dog is in there, I can't tell you how many times we've had to scoop those animals up dead.' And we are so close, but we're not done yet."
Cornelius urged animal shelter supporters to call or email their representatives to ask them to support SB361.
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