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Dear P.R.I.D.E.
Visitor:
The board of directors of Mush with P.R.I.D.E. is aware that the Sled
Dog Care Guidelines are being misinterpreted & misrepresented by
various groups. The guidelines were carefully compiled to
educate and inform our fellow mushers. If while reading these
guidelines you have questions, please feel free to contact us
Mush with P.R.I.D.E. correspondence may be directed to
P.O. Box 84915, Fairbanks, AK 99708-4915 USA.
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USDA Final Tethering Rule
Mush with P.R.I.D.E.
feels that people should have access to the US Department of
Agriculture's Final Rule on tethering in its original language.
After protests by several groups, including Mush with P.R.I.D.E.,
USDA issued a clarification which is also included in these pages.
The clarification carries as much legal weight as the Final Rule.
START FINAL RULE
[Federal Register: August 13,
1997 (Volume 62, Number 156)]
[Rules and Regulations] [Page 43272-43275]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13au97-3]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 1 and 3
[Docket No. 95-078-2]
RIN 0579-AA74
Humane Treatment of Dogs;
Tethering
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are amending the
regulations for the humane treatment of dogs under the Animal
Welfare Act by removing the provisions for tethering dogs as a means
of primary enclosure. Our experience in enforcing the Animal Welfare
Act has led us to conclude that permanently tethering a dog as a
means of primary enclosure is not a humane practice that is in the
animal's best interests. Temporarily tethering a dog due to health
or other reasons would be permitted if the licensee obtains the
approval of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This
action will help ensure that dogs in
facilities regulated under the Animal Welfare Act will be treated in
a manner that is consistent with the animals' best interests.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 12, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Stephen Smith, Staff Animal Health Technician, Animal Care, APHIS,
suite 6D02, 4700 River Road Unit 84, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234,
(301) 734-4972,
or e-mail:
snsmith@aphis.usda.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) (7 U.S.C.
2131 et seq.) the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to
promulgate standards and other requirements governing the humane
handling, housing, care, treatment, and transportation of certain
animals by dealers, research facilities, exhibitors, and carriers
and intermediate handlers. Regulations established under the Act are
contained in 9 CFR parts 1, 2, and 3. Subpart A of 9 CFR part 3
(referred to below as the regulations) contains requirements
concerning dogs and cats.
On July 2, 1996, we published in the Federal Register (61 FR
34386-34389, Docket No. 95-078-1) a proposal to amend the
regulations by removing the option for facilities to use tethering
as a means of primary enclosure. In the same document, we proposed
to amend the regulations by revising the temperature requirements
for indoor, sheltered, and mobile and traveling housing facilities,
and for primary conveyances used in transportation, to require that
the ambient temperature must never exceed 90 deg.F (32.2 deg.C) when
dogs or cats are present.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
September 3, 1996. We received 54 comments by that date. Many of the
comments we received on the proposed rule expressed concerns with
the proposal to revise the temperature requirements. This final rule
concerns only the part of the proposal to remove tethering as a
means of primary enclosure. We are still reviewing the issues
concerning the effects of temperature on dogs and cats. If we take
any further action regarding
temperature, we will publish the appropriate document in the Federal
Register.
Thirty-three of the comments received on the proposed rule addressed
the part of the proposal to remove tethering as a means of primary
enclosure. These comments were from dog breeders, humane
organizations, a veterinarian, pet industry associations, an animal
feed industry association, pharmaceutical companies, a medical
research association, a Federal government agency, and other
interested individuals. Nine of the comments supported the proposal;
14 comments opposed the proposal; 1 comment did not oppose the
proposal, but had recommendations concerning the proposal's Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis; and 9 comments expressed neither
support nor opposition, but stated that the provisions of the
proposal should be extended to apply to anyone who owns dogs,
instead of only to licensed breeders and dealers. The comments are
discussed below
by topic.
Currently, the regulations provide that dogs
in outside housing facilities regulated under the AWA may be kept on
tethers as a means of primary enclosure. We proposed to remove this
provision. Several commenter's who supported the proposed rule
stated that, while they believe tethering should not be used as a
primary enclosure, there are situations when tethering is useful for
short intervals. For example, the commenter said an owner may put a
dog on a tether while cleaning its pen, to isolate the dog for
health reasons, or to restrain an aggressive dog. The commenter's
recommended that we state explicitly in the regulations that
tethering is prohibited as a means of primary enclosure, and clarify
in the regulations when tethering would be permissible.
We agree that it would be more clear to specifically state in the
regulations that permanent tethering is prohibited as a means of
primary enclosure. Therefore, we are adding a new paragraph (c)(4)
to Sec. 3.6 of the regulations to state that tethers are prohibited
for use as primary enclosures. However, we realize that there may be
times when it would be appropriate, and in the dog's best interests,
to put a dog on a tether temporarily, ranging from a few minutes
while the dog's pen is cleaned to several days to isolate an animal
for health reasons. If we stated in the regulations when tethering
would be permitted, we would invariably fail to include some
circumstance. Further, while tethering may be appropriate for one
dog under a specific circumstance, it may not be appropriate for
another dog under the same circumstance. Therefore, we are also
adding a provision in new paragraph (c)(4) to state that a licensee
must obtain the approval of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) to temporarily tether a dog at the licensee's
facility. This safeguard will give APHIS the opportunity to evaluate
on a case-by-case basis the appropriateness of temporarily tethering
a dog in order to ensure that any temporary tethering of a dog is in
the animal's best interests.
A licensee may obtain verbal approval from an APHIS inspector to
temporarily tether a dog for a period of 3 days or less. If a
licensee intends to regularly tether a dog for periods of less than
3 days in order to conduct a regular activity (for example, a
licensee intends to tether a dog every day for 20 minutes while the
dog's primary enclosure is being cleaned), the licensee will only
have to obtain verbal approval for such tethering one time. If a
licensee intends to temporarily tether a dog for a
period to exceed 3 days, the licensee must obtain written approval
from the APHIS Animal Care Regional Office for the region in which
the licensee operates.
One commenter asked us to specify that, if an inspector finds a dog
to be temporarily tethered, the inspector should ask the licensee to
show him or her the dog's primary enclosure. The [[Page 43273]]
purpose of this would be to verify that the tethering arrangement is
not permanent and that the dog has a primary enclosure. We are not
making any changes to the proposed rule in response to this comment.
We assure the commenter that, in conducting inspections of licensed
facilities, each
inspector will verify that each animal's primary enclosure complies
with the regulations. If a dog is tethered at the time of an
inspection, the inspector will verify that the licensee has APHIS
approval and that the dog has a primary enclosure that is in
compliance with the regulations. Many commenter's stated that they
believe tethering is humane and should be allowed as a means of
primary enclosure. One commenter specified that if the tether is
equipped with a swivel on the end, it is safe and does not
encumber the movement of the dog. Other commenter's said the
proposal did not present any scientific data to support the claim
that tethering is inhumane.
We are not making any changes to the proposal based on these
comments. As we stated in the proposed rule, we do not have any data
on the frequency of injuries due to tethers. However, our experience
has led us to conclude that permanently tethering dogs as a means of
primary enclosure is not a humane practice that is in the animals'
best interests. Further, permanent tethering is no longer a
generally accepted practice within the dog dealer industry, and some
industry groups prohibit their members from using tethering as a
means of permanent restraint. A dog attached to a tether is
significantly restricted in its movement. A tether can also become
tangled around or hooked on the dog's shelter structure or other
objects, further restricting the dog's movement and potentially
causing injury. We do not believe that a flexible tether, a tether
with a swivel on the end, or other such devices would significantly
improve the safety of a tether. Such devices may improve the
mobility of the dog, but the possibility would still remain over
time for the tether to become tangled around objects
within the dog's range.
We reiterate that we are prohibiting permanent tethering as a means
of primary enclosure. It is possible that most injuries from tethers
are, in part, due to a dog being unsupervised for long periods of
time while on the tether. Prohibiting the use of a permanent tether
as a means of primary enclosure for dogs will minimize the
likelihood that a dog would be left unsupervised for extended
periods of time while on a tether, thus reducing the likelihood of
injury. We are not prohibiting the use of temporary tethering for
restraining a dog for short periods of time if the licensee obtains
the approval of APHIS.
One commenter said that our proposal would be in conflict with the
requirements of some cities that dogs be tethered. The commenter is
correct that many cities require dogs to be on a leash or tethered
when they are not enclosed by some other means. These laws are
necessary so that the public is protected from aggressive dogs and
to prevent dogs from roaming freely. However, we know of no city
that requires dogs to be tethered as a means of primary enclosure.
Further, our rule prohibiting the use of a permanent tether as
primary enclosure would apply only to persons regulated under the
AWA (dog breeders, dealers, exhibitors, carriers, intermediate
handlers, and research facilities).
Individual dog owners would not be affected
by this rule, and could continue to tether their dogs if they
believe it is appropriate, and if it is not restricted by local
regulations. A facility regulated under the AWA would still be
permitted to temporarily tether dogs if the facility obtains the
approval of APHIS.
Go to USDA Final Tethering Rule (Part 2)
Go to USDA Final Tethering Rule (Part 3-Clarification) |
