Tonight, the Durham Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of a revised ordinance on the treatment of animals, effectively placing a ban on tethering dogs beginning in January 2010 and giving Animal Control better-defined statutes under which to prosecute animal cruelty cases. A few in the audience expressed shame for Durham in taking away citizens’ rights to inflect cruelty onto dogs. However, most of them don’t even live in Durham. Most in the audience proudly cheered when the verdict came down. In the end, most of the commissioners seemed compelled to do the right thing. Poor clueless Lewis Cheek was adamant that Durham doesn’t have a problem with dogs. He’ll be gone soon, but I could see why Durham keeps Becky Heron year after year. She was forcefully behind the measure and gave a rousing rebuttal to those questioned the integrity of the advisory committee. Amanda Arrington chaired the Animal Control Advisory Committee and deserves much of the credit for getting the all the the right people and information together to bring the ordinance before the BOCC, despite fierce opposition from small but intimidating group who insist on the right to do what they please with their dogs.
I’m really proud of Durham (for the first time in my adult life!)
As for those who insist that having to build a fence is financially unfeasible, I’ve got a solution:
How about a couch?
