Tethering issue firmly back before commissioners
While last week’s ribbon cutting signaled progress for the county animal control efforts. The question that has been hanging around the commissioners neck for the past decade, whether or not to adopt a no tethering ordinance has yet to be addressed. Although pleas from some residents and PETA representatives to adopt a no tethering ordinance have been constant, the commissioners have not addressed the issue since March. However, the issue of Bertie County dogs has landed back on the commissions plate. PETA Director of Community Relations Rachel Bellis appeared before the commissioners last week, once again presenting photographs of emaciated, tether torn canine. Bellis went on to ask the commissioners to adopt an ordinance. “PETA fieldworkers found the approximately 6-week-old puppies in September on a Bertie County property, where their mother, Hazel, is kept confined outside,” Bellis said. “The owners told us that Hazel had ‘gotten loose’ and given birth to six puppies, one of whom had already died. “Of the surviving puppies, two were lying inside her doghouse on the verge of death due to a flea infestation that had so severely depleted their blood supply that their gums were white,” she added. “Their owners allowed PETA to take
