Texas Humane Legislation Network & Houston Humane Society Continue to Call for Meaningful Reforms to State Law
AUSTIN, Texas -- Recently, Animal Crimes Investigators from the Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Constable Wayne Thompson's Office brought the Houston Humane Society (HHS) a young dog with a metal chain embedded around her neck.
The dog, named Molly, was kept chained in the yard of her home with the metal chain wrapped twice around her neck so tightly and for so long that it rubbed her hair off and began to grow into her skin. Molly is also extremely malnourished, tested positive for heart worms, and is suffering from a severe flea infestation.
Molly has undergone surgery to remove the embedded chain and has a long road of recovery in front of her. Beyond the physical effects, animals like Molly suffer severe psychological and emotional trauma from their abuse as well.
"This poor animal was made to suffer unnecessarily by its owners. Unfortunately, we see this all across the state due to our inadequate laws on humane restraint of a dog outside," said Shelby Bobosky, Executive Director for the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN). "The use of a heavy metal chain, which is an improper restrain for any living creature, combined with prolonged neglect can be stopped if we repair our broken law."
THLN, and its allies like the HHS, have worked the past five years to pass reforms to the state's current laws on proper, humane restraint of a dog outside in Texas. Most importantly among these reforms is the removal of the provision requiring law enforcement to provide a "warning" to owners who are inhumanely restraining their dogs outside each day they observe the offense. This has created an endless cycle of warnings and to THLN's knowledge, no owner has ever been cited under the current law due to this issue.
While the bill has passed overwhelmingly out of the Texas Senate twice, it has died on the House floor each time due to procedural maneuvers before receiving a final vote.
"We see animals like Molly come into our facility far too often. Molly's incident is not an isolated one. For a chain to embed in the flesh takes time and is extremely painful for the animal. There are many animals who are suffering from heavy chains, short chains, and tight chains and it's truly heartbreaking," said Gary Poon, Executive Director of the Houston Humane Society. "We fully support the efforts of THLN and others who are trying to improve our state law and protect dogs like Molly from needless suffering."
For more information, visit www.thln.org or contact Cara Gustafson at the information above.