Owners of tethered dogs were back in the hot seat this week as the Town Council discussed a possible ordinance against chaining animals during the July 20 regular meeting.

A dog shouldn’t have to wait for someone to eventually find that it is tangled around a tree too far from its water bowl Garner resident Donna Frieda told the Council.

While a cruelty to animals ordinance is already in place, Frieda said she feels tethering dogs is detrimental to their health.

Frieda and her husband, who brought the issue to the Law and Finance Committee in May, offered to volunteer their time one to two days each week to help Garner’s animal control officer with administrative work if the Council would agree to instate an ordinance.

Jay Schapiro, a volunteer with the Coalition to Unchain Dogs, said he supports an ordinance directly related to animal tethering, but believes there should be a grace period set up to allow Garner residents to come into compliance or seek help from the non-profit group that builds fences for dog owners free of charge.

He said the effects of moving a dog off the chain and into a pen are great.

“The dog is just running around like a kid at Disney World because they have their freedom,” Schapiro said. “There’s an immediate change in the dog’s life.”

But tethered dogs in Garner won’t be freed just yet. The Council sent the topic back to the Law and Finance Committee, which will meet in August, to make a formal recommendation to present at a later Council meeting.

Both Councilman Gra Singleton and Mayor Protem Kathy Behringer said they would like to take the matter back to the Law and Finance Committee because they are surer now of what the group’s recommendation should be.

Both said they would like to move forward with creating an ordinance.

“I think their program is a win-win situation,” Singleton said.

Behringer said she sees more pros than cons by creating an ordinance and would like to see at least a one-year grace period.

Councilman Buck Kennedy said while the Coalition has seen only positive effects in other communities that have instated a tethering ordinance, he wants to make sure Garner doesn’t follow in suit just to be part of the crowd. He wants to make sure it is what is best for Garner’s residents.

However, he does see it becoming an issue as Garner grows and believes in being proactive.