Dog restraint bill caged in Legislature

“Well, doggone,” Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, said Tuesday after announcing to a House subcommittee that he was pulling the bill. “I was going to run with the big dogs, but I can’t get off of the porch.”

Dunn said his bill may have persuaded some people to make sure their dogs are safe when riding in pickup trucks.

The bill would have made it illegal to transport a dog in “the outside part of any motor vehicle unless such dog is suitably harnessed, caged or enclosed so as to protect such dog from falling, jumping or being thrown from the motor vehicle.”

Violators would have faced a $50 fine, but some exemptions were added including dogs used in hunting or farming purposes. Dunn also eliminated the fine in exchange for a warning ticket on the first offense. The law also would have applied only to state highways.

But that still didn’t stop criticism.

“I’ve got a lot of people back home who didn’t like the idea,” Rep. Steve Godsey, R-Blountville told The Knoxville News Sentinel. “Folks like to haul their dogs around in the back of pickup trucks. We don’t need to be infringing on people’s rights.”

Godsey, a member of the panel that considered the measure this year, said the majority of lawmakers on the committee opposed the idea.

Dunn said he may introduce a resolution to urge that dogs be made safe and secure when placed in the back of pickup trucks. A resolution does not make a change in state law.

He declined to say whether he would try again next year, saying that would “depend on the makeup of the committee” that would hear the legislation.

Kevin Jewell, left, and Chris Macaulay argue about gay rights and civil unions in the hall of the Legislative Plaza, Wednesday, March 24, 2004 in Nashville, Tenn. A bill to prevent Tennessee from giving legal recognition to same-sex civil unions died Wednesday when it failed in a House subcommittee. (AP Photo)