The City Council on Tuesday night approved a new ordinance that will forbid dog owners in Chattanooga from keeping their dogs chained more than 12 hours a day.
Karen Walsh, executive director of the McKamey Animal Trust, said, "Currently there are hundreds of dogs in Chattanooga that are chained 24 hours a day."
The ordinance also allows ticketing for owners who allow their dogs to continually bark.
There will first be a warning, then a $20 ticket, Ms. Walsh said. The third step would be citing the owner to City Court, where the owner could be fined $50.
Also, those who find stray dogs would no longer be able to keep them for 10 days and claim them for their own.
Ms. Walsh said those who find dogs would be required to turn them in to the McKamey Center, where they would be spayed and neutered if necessary, then put out for adoption. She said those who lose their dogs would know to come to the McKamey Center to check for them.
Another section would bring penalties for those who use dogs as vicious guards, such as drug dealers.
An old section of the ordinance calls for a $100 fee for those who plan to use dogs in shows. Ms. Walsh said that apparently dates to the time when Ringling Brothers converted a dog into a unicorn.
Councilwoman Sally Robinson said that section ought to be used against those who stage rodeos.
She said, "Rodeo horses are not wild, bucking beasts. Electrical straps are used to give them shocks so they will buck."
She added, "They are being tortured."
Ms. Walsh showed the council photos of horrendous injuries to dogs who were constantly tied up with heavy chains and ropes.
She said chained dogs become more aggressive and are more likely to bite. She said the bite victims are often children.
Also, the City Council was set to act to set up a stricter Hate Crimes policy.
A help network would be created for victims of hate crimes.
Councilwoman Deborah Scott abstained. She said she had not had an opportunity to read the entire ordinance. She said she is an animal lover who recently adopted a shelter dog.