a PETA billboard I saw today that I actually liked
It said "Keep your family safe. Chain your door, not your dog." And, here's an article I pulled up when I typed that phrase in. I'm not a PETA supporter, by any stretch of the imagination, but, I liked this sign a lot.
McGehee, Ark. — PETA’s new billboard showing a chained dog next to the tagline "To Keep Your Family Safe, Chain Your Door, Not Your Dog"—alerting residents to the dangerous consequences for humans and dogs alike of keeping dogs chained—will be rising in Desha County. The area was jolted this week when a 5-year-old McGehee boy was severely injured by his neighbor’s chained dog. PETA has also written to McGehee Mayor Bain Poole, furnishing him with information about what can happen when dogs are kept chained up like bicycles and recommending that the county follow the lead of many other jurisdictions—including Little Rock and Maumelle in Arkansas alone—that have passed anti-chaining legislation.
PETA points out that sentencing dogs to solitary confinement at the end of a chain deprives them of the social interaction they need and crave and drives them mad. According to animal behaviorists, dogs on chains often become agitated, frustrated, and—unable to flee from perceived threats—aggressively protective of their tiny territories. PETA maintains an extensive file on children who have been mauled and even killed after wandering into chained dogs’ reach or encountering dogs who had broken free from chains.
Chaining these highly social pack animals is also cruel. Forced to endure weather extremes and spend their entire lives eating, sleeping, and eliminating in the same few square feet of space, chained dogs are also easy targets for cowardly abusers who would shoot, poison, or steal them.
"People who relegate ‘man’s best friend’ to a chain are planting ticking time bombs in their yards and risking their families’ lives," says PETA Director Daphna Nachminovitch. "Dogs are members of the family, not lawn ornaments or furry alarm systems."
