INC NEWS - Group builds fences to free dogs

[Ken Gasch]

Group builds fences to free dogs physically and spiritually


      Christine T. Nguyen/ The Herald-Sun Robert Hensley of the Coalition to
Unchain Dogs attaches a gate to a chain link fence Sunday on Canal Street in
Durham. The group has built fences to unchain 101 dogs in the past 17
months.
By Monica Chen : The Herald-Sun
mchen at heraldsun.com
Aug 11, 2008

DURHAM -- Blue didn't like people.

Chained up in the back yard of a Durham home on Canal Street, he was so
aggressive that he had to be sedated to be taken to the veterinarian.

But on Sunday afternoon, when a 16-person team with the Coalition to Unchain
Dogs built him a new home with fences so that he was free to roam around,
Blue did a complete 180.

"He got into his yard and turned into this big baby," said Amanda Arrington,
founder of the nonprofit organization. "You think I wouldn't be surprised
anymore, but every time it happens ..."

Chained dogs are vulnerable to attacks and more skeptical of people, and
they defend themselves by being more aggressive, Arrington said.

"Chaining is just not a natural way to keep a dog," she said.

Over the course of their volunteer work, the group has encountered some
horrible conditions for chained dogs, including collars embedded in their
necks, body sores, tracheal damage and birthing multiple litters because
most them aren't spayed.

Blue and his yard-mate, Cash, were the 100th and 101st dogs the group has
set free. The organization is only 17 months old, meaning that they have
helped nearly two dogs every week since founding.

Most of that initiative, volunteers and dog owners said Sunday, could be
chalked up to Arrington's passion and tenacity.

When the group was starting out, Arrington and friends would canvass
neighborhoods and speak to homeowners wherever they notice a chained dog in
the yard.

Not every homeowner would come around immediately to the idea of strangers
building them fences, and -- in a way -- telling them what to do with their
own pets. But Arrington wouldn't take no for an answer.

She'd return with flea medicine and offer to neuter the animals for free.
She'd chat with the homeowner, try to get them to understand the benefits
for the animals as well as the people.

"We try to build a relationship with the person first," said Lori Hensley, a
neighbor who has been with the group since the beginning. "We just want to
show them that it could be better for the dog."

"Once a dog is free, its personality comes out," added husband Robert
Hensley.

At least one pit bull breeder has become a volunteer with the group.

It wasn't long ago that Rodney Marshall bought a female pit bull for $2,000
for breeding purposes only. He had three dogs -- Jade, Cass and Big Boy --
all kept on leashes.

When Arrington approached Marshall one day, inquiring about his three dogs,
Marshall was at first skeptical.

So Arrington made him a bet: If they could get a tarp up for one of the dogs
whose house didn't have any shade over it, then they would get the dogs
spayed and neutered.

Marshall said OK. He lost that bet.

It took him weeks to finally agree for the group to build his dogs fences,
but he was glad they did.

"I need my dogs to be healthier," he said. "They became a lot more playful,
with a lot more room to run around. They've gained some weight."

Since then, he has helped five other dogs get spayed and neutered.

"I respect them. They got a lot of courage. Amanda is crazy. ... to go in
people's yards, mess with their dogs," Marshall said with a laugh.

A former office manager at a local civil engineering firm, Arrington and her
husband, Casey, built their very first fence in March 2007 with $300 in
donations. Arrington is now the state director of the Humane Society of the
U.S.

She is also on the Durham County Animal Control Advisory Committee, which is
working on a tethering ban in Durham with an exception of the dog being in
the owner's presence.

Since last spring, the coalition has snowballed into a listserv of more than
100 people, and group has already gotten enough donations that they are
looking into partnering with fencing companies to get the fences faster.

Fences for one home usually cost $275-$300 in materials only. The work,
powered by volunteers, is completely free.

Every Sunday, the volunteers go to another home, where they have also likely
paid for the animal's spaying or neutering, flea medication, and where they
most likely came a few days earlier to plan out the fencing and put in
concrete foundations for the posts.

The organization has worked at homes from Wake Forest to Johnston County.

"I think with the majority of folks, education is key," Arrington said,
recounting a story in which a woman cried when she saw how being let off the
chain changed her aggressive dog into a puppy.

"Once they see how their pets react, they think, 'Oh my god," and their mind
changes."

---

Fundraiser tonight

The group is holding a wine tasting fundraiser at The George at 414 Glenwood
Ave. in Raleigh from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Ten percent of the proceeds will
benefit the coalition.

© 2008 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.
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