Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Lawmakers consider bill to protect tethered dogs

CARSON CITY -- Keeping pets on too short a leash or tethered for too long would be a misdemeanor under a bill being considered by the Legislature.

Senate Bill 132 would prohibit tying up a dog with a device that is less than 12 feet long and keeping the pet tethered for more than nine hours during a 24-hour period.

The bill would also prohibit placing the dog in a pen or other outdoor enclosure for more than nine hours during a 24-hour period unless the dog weighs less than 20 pounds and the pen is at least 60 square feet.

A dog weighing 20-60 pounds would have to be in a pen that is at least 120 square feet, under the bill, and larger dogs would have to be larger areas.

“People go to work, particularly in the summer, and tether these animals in the heat and the neighbors hear the howling, yelling and screaming and there’s no way to help the animal,” said Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, who introduced the bill. “So what this (bill) simply does is say you have to provide shelter and food and water for an animal that you are going to tether for a period of time. You just can’t clip them to a thing that is a foot long where he can’t move around and get any exercise and stretch out.”

The bill contains a number of exemptions — for dogs under the treatment of a veterinarian, being used to hunt, participating in a dog show or kept in a shelter or boarding facility.

Townsend has also introduced Senate Bill 113 to toughen the law prohibiting the staging of dog or animal fights.

Both bills were referred for study to the Committee on Natural Resources.

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