Teens seek change in dog code as Babylon considers new legislation

In Babylon Town, a dog’s best friend just may be a group of teenagers.

The town is proposing new legislation to protect the welfare of restrained dogs after a high school club nudged officials to take action.

The Teen Animal Protectors, a student group at Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, in December contacted officials in towns including Babylon — which is part of the school district — asking for more specific laws to protect dogs left outside. 

“A big part of what we do is advocacy and donating money so we’ve never done anything like this before,” said Bennett Vogel, 17, the group’s vice president.

Vogel’s email to Babylon was well-received, as the town’s code regarding dogs largely is focused on licenses and does not address dogs tethered outside.

“Currently we don’t have any control, we don’t have any tools locally,” said Chris Elton, director of the town’s animal shelter. “The laws we have are versions of antiquated state laws, which are for cows and horses and are very loose.”

As the town has intensified crackdowns on quality of life issues, animal control officers increasingly respond to call at homes where dogs are tied up in yards, Elton said. While there are Suffolk County laws that address such situations, “we would have to depend on the county to come in and do something and the county is busy,” he said.

Donna Somma, deputy town attorney, said shelter workers and officials had been discussing ways to strengthen the code for the past year but the student group “kind of pushed it to the finish line” and prompted the town to draft a revised code.

The proposed legislation, which will be voted on Wednesday, prohibits any dog to be “at large,” which is defined as a dog “on a leash of six feet or more.” This does not pertain to handheld leashes.

Dogs also may not be tied up for “longer than one continuous hour in any continuous twelve-hour period” and must be given adequate food, water and shelter while restrained. The amount of time is shortened to 30 minutes for inclement weather, which is defined as any temperature below 32° F or above 90° F.

Among other limitations, the law specifies that the restraint must have “swivels at both ends that is of an adequate length for the type, age and size of the dog being restrained.” Punishment for violations start at a $250 fine or an imprisonment of up to 15 days.

“Now we have the tools,” Elton said. “It’s going to make a profound difference for the dogs that we come across.”

Vogel and his group showed up to express support at a public hearing on the proposed legislation earlier this month.

“When we first reached out we didn’t think much was going to come from this,” the high school senior said. “Now it’s like wow, this is crazy, we’re actually doing something, we’re actually helping instead of just talking to a wall.”

Robert Thidemann Jr., one of the club’s advisers and a social studies teacher at the school, said the experience shows all teens that their voices matter.

“Now hopefully they see that can have an impact, especially on the local level, and that people do listen,” he said.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.