HOW MANY CHILDREN HAVE TO DIE BEFORE THE NATION ACKNOWLEDGES THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CHAINING AND DOG ATTACKS?

33 Children since October 2003 Seriously Injured/Killed
as a Result of Chained Dog Attacks

The Sunday, April 10th attack is the latest in a long line of chained dog
attacks, and left 4 year old Robert Shafer of Orange County, Virginia dead
and the small community in shaken silence.

³The dog was in a pen and on a chain, but the boy must have pushed the gate
open like this,² said Bertha Miller, 68, who has lived in the community of
about 25 closely spaced trailers for about a decade. The dog ³broke his
little neck.²

Dogs Deserve Better, an organization working to get dogs off chains and into
the family, insists that it¹s time America woke up to the dangers of
chaining a dog. Dogs are pack animals, and when left alone, chained, and
unsocialized to humans, they often become angry; they can and do take this
anger out on the children who are unlucky enough to come too close.

Says Tammy Sneath Grimes, founder of Dogs Deserve Better, ³How many children
have to die before our lawmakers get the connection between chaining a dog
outside, unsocialized, and the resulting ever-present danger of death and
injury to small children? The chaining of dogs has been ongoing for
generations in America, and this outdated and irresponsible method of
guardianship must stop. Much of Europe has long eschewed the practice of dog
chaining; Austria¹s recent nationwide law prohibits chaining, and it¹s time
America wake up and catch up. Not only is it dangerous and cruel for the
dog, but it¹s dangerous for any child unlucky enough to wander into the
sphere created by an angry dog¹s chain.²

Other nationwide attacks since October 2003:

March, 2005: Pharis Fish, 4, Alabama, seriously injured

February, 2005: 2 unnamed girls, 10, Texas, injured; boy Petrie, 4, New
York, injured; Kaylin Flowers, 4, Florida, seriously injured; Kendra Odums,
5, North Carolina, injured

January, 2005: Tamra Kuester, 8, Illinois, seriously injured

December, 2004: Krysta Cross, 4, Virginia, seriously injured; Myles Leakes,
4, Florida, killed

November, 2004: Breel Thomas, 18 mo., Tennessee, seriously injured

September, 2004: Isaiah Smith, 19 months, South Carolina, killed; Robert
Fowler, 5, Arkansas, injured; Kaylee Chewning, 5, Illinois, injured

August, 2004: Summer Baumgardner, 9, Pennsylvania, seriously injured

July, 2004: Willie Moore, 7, North Carolina, seriously injured; Patricia
Anderson, 2, Georgia, killed; Daniel Foster, 10, Ohio, seriously injured;
Erica Lybarger, 5, Texas, seriously injured

June, 2004: Emma-Leigh Chambers-Allen, 5, New Mexico, seriously injured;
Kennedy Robinson, 20-months, Mississippi, seriously injured

April, 2004: Emily Page Stinnett, 4, Kentucky, seriously injured; Linda
Wiegret, 14-months, Texas, seriously injured; Mark Wilson, 8, Illinois,
seriously injured; Alani Black, 4, North Carolina, seriously injured

March, 2004: unnamed child, Florida, injured; Meredith Bell, 8, North
Carolina, injured

February, 2004: Trusten Liddle, 17-month-old, Hawaii, killed

January, 2004: Kaitlyn Matthews, 5, Mississippi, seriously injured; Nathan
Roy Hill, 3, North Carolina, killed

October, 2003: Makayla Sinclair, 2, South Carolina, killed; Jonathan Shane
Ivey, 4, Texas, seriously injured; Okleno King, 3, Mississippi, seriously
injured.

Karen Delise, author of Fatal Dog Attacks, has researched and chronicled the
circumstances surrounding every fatal dog attack in the United States since
1965. ³Chained dogs have killed at least 127 people. Of the 127 people, 112
were children that wandered into reach of a chained or similarly restrained
dog. Another 11 occurred from dogs who were chained and broke free before
attacking.² She also states in her book: ³Statistically, chained dogs are
more dangerous than free-running packs of dogs.²

America needs nationwide laws prohibiting the chaining of dogs to the
nearest tree, post, or doghouse. Dogs Deserve Better has initiated a
national petition against chaining, and has numerous programs to help bring
dogs out of the backyard and into the home and family. They also offer
public service announcements available to all TV stations willing to run the
:30 spot.

Grimes continues, ³We must stand NOW to insist on the laws being changed to
protect the innocent, both humans and dogs. It¹s too crucial to NOT do so.
The lost lives and changed futures of our nation¹s children and families
depend on it.²

To contact Dogs Deserve Better go to their website at
www.dogsdeservebetter.com.

Tammy Sneath Grimes, Founder
Dogs Deserve Better: No Chains!
Make a Dog's Life Worth Living
<http://www.dogsdeservebetter<WBR>.com>
P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684
1.877.636.1408
814.941.7447

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