ROANOKE, Va. – There's a new law now in effect impacting dog owners in Roanoke city.
As of July 1, dogs cannot be tied up to anything for more than three hours. Dogs also cannot be tied up outside after 10 p.m. or before 6 a.m.
Animal control officers say the goal of the tethering ordinance is to encourage people to make dogs more part of the family, teach them better behavior and to help cut down on bite incidents.
"It's important to get dogs off of their chains because their behavior is different and they can tend to be either extremely fearful or very aggressive. We need to be careful of how we all manage our dogs in the city ‘cause we all live very close together," Roanoke city animal warden Melissa Pruett said.
Animal control officers also plan to work with people to figure out ways to get their dogs off chains.