Small Town News

Dog found dead after rejection of tethering law

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BY SEAN KIMMONS

A restrained dog was found dead, tethered to a stake in the backyard of a Kyle home on Sunday, less than a week after the Kyle City Council failed to pass a tethering law.

In late April, a 4-3 decision passed the first reading of the ordinance to ban chaining and tethering dog restraint methods. However, the council deadlocked on the idea at their May 3 meeting.

Councilmember Becky Selbera initially voted for the ban but swapped her vote to secure the 3-3 decision with councilmem-bers Jaime Sanchez and Russ Huebner. Councilmember Brad Pickett, who voted against the ordinance in April, was absent for the final vote.

Selbera, who is currendy running for reelection, did not return calls to explain her change of mind.

On Sunday, police responded to the 200 block of Buckingham Drive around 5 p.m. and discovered a dead pit-bull mix without food, water or shelter to escape the hot weather, said Capt. Pedro Hernandez. An anonymous caller contacted police and said that the dog appeared to be dying. When police got there, the dog was already dead and no one was present in the Kensington Trails home, he said.

A necropsy, a non-human autopsy, will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. If the dog is found to have died from negligence, the owner could face animal cruelty charges, police say.

"We'll still be investigating this," Hernandez said.

Johnson, who brought forward the tethering law to prevent such incidents, was disappointed in the recent vote.

"Honestly, I feel that it's awful," Johnson said Tuesday. "Dogs should not be tethered."

Under state law, unsupervised dogs cannot be tethered more than three hours a day or overnight. The proposed ordinance would have outlawed tethering practices, no matter how long. Violators would have also been charged with a Class C misdemeanor.

The reason for a stricter policy, Johnson says, is because the city has only one animal control officer.

"I really think that this law would have been much easier to enforce," she said. "I can't say that it could have saved this dog but there are other dogs in Kyle that are being tethered and abused."

City rules prevent Johnson to bring back the ordinance, only a councilmember who has voted against it can place it on the agenda, she said.



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© 2011 The Free Press Buda, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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