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By Chip Womick
cwomick@courier-tribune.com
Twitter: @ChipWomickCT
TRINITY — Last fall, Donna Hughes promised to help build fences for dog owners who could not afford a fence if Randolph County commissioners passed an anti-tethering ordinance.
She made the spur-of-the-moment pledge last October during brief remarks to commissioners who were being asked to consider placing limitations on chaining dogs out of doors. The idea popped into her head that she did not want county leaders to pass on the proposal because it might be a financial burden for some.
So, she volunteered to help.
Randolph commissioners approved the anti-tethering ordinance that night, and Hughes plans to honor her words. There was never any doubt about that. Her daddy, the late Ed Hughes, taught her to say what you’re going to do and to do what you said you are going to do.
She established Flying Hound Fences, under the umbrella of Happy Hills Animal Foundation, a no-kill animal shelter in northeastern Randolph County. The idea is to use cash donations, donated materials and volunteers to build fences for unchained dogs.
“I can’t do this by myself,” she said.
With enough people sharing the workload, Hughes figures a volunteer might only need to give a few hours of time every other month. She envisions erecting fences larger than 10 feet square.
“I don’t think small pens are the answer,” she said. “It’s going to be (built from) whatever we have at our disposal.”
A Durham-based group called the Coalition to Unchain Dogs, whose volunteers build fences (and offer many other services for dogs and their owners), generates some of the money to do the work via fund-raisers. Hughes plans to do the same.
A few have stepped up to say they will help, but so far no one has requested a fence.
Yellow dog
One very cold winter night two years ago, Hughes was so worried about a dog chained in a neighbor’s yard that she could not sleep.
It was not the first night that concern about the yellow dog — left outdoors to fend for itself year-round, no matter the weather — had kept her awake, but on this night, she wrote a song. It was a natural way to express herself. The singing and guitar- and piano-playing Randolph County native has written more than 500 songs.
“Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” came quickly. She uploaded to YouTube a simple video of herself playing the piano and singing the tearjerker. A few months later, she spent three days in a Nashville studio and recorded a more polished version of “Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” with the help of other talented musicians.
She also recorded numerous other songs and released a pair of new compact discs in the summer of 2015 — “From the Heart” and “Fly,” her fifth and sixth CDs. The former features Hughes at her bluegrass best; the latter features her playing piano with cello, violin and bass violin accompaniment. They were released on her own label, Running Dog Records.
“Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” is on both CDs. Soon, DJs started playing “Dog on a 10 Foot Chain.” A lot. It rose to #1 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Bluegrass Songs chart, a spot it held for many weeks.
A video that accompanies the bluegrass version includes heart-rending images of dogs on chains, as well as heart-lifting images of dogs running free.
She wrote another song, “One Less Dog in the Cold,” also designed, as Hughes describes it on her website, “to touch hearts and provoke change/thought/actions” on the issue of chaining dogs. A gut-wrenching video accompanies that song, too.
Hughes also visited the Randolph County Animal Shelter, which is located next to the Randolph County landfill at 1370 County Land Road, Randleman, to film a public service announcement about Randolph County’s anti-tethering law.
The law says
Randolph’s ordinance makes it unlawful to use tethering as the regular method for keeping a dog on the owner’s property. The new ordinance defines tethering as “the act of tying, chaining or restraining a dog to a fixed object with a rope, chain or other device in order to keep the dog confined.”
Dogs can be tethered for “a reasonable period of time” for waste elimination or for exercise on a dog run, but not 24 hours a day.
Penalties and fines will not be assessed until Jan. 1, 2017, to give time to educate the public about the new ordinance. The penalty for violating the tethering section will range from a warning (no fine) to $50 for the first charge, $100 for the second charge and $200 for the third charge.
* * *
For more information about Flying Hound Fences, contact Donna Hughes by phone at (336) 472-6363 or via email at donna@donnahughes.com. Donations of building materials can be dropped off at Happy Hills Animal Foundation, 3143 Happy Hills Drive, Staley, NC 27355; the phone number is (336) 622-3620. To have someone pick up materials, contact Hughes. For more information about the county’s anti-tethering ordinance, call Randolph County Animal Control at (336) 683-8235.
- See more at: http://courier-tribune.com/living/features/randolph-s-anti-tethering-ordinance-music-donna-hughes-ears-video#sthash.sGlTO04S.SaUCx84p.dpuf
TRINITY — Last fall, Donna Hughes promised to help build fences for dog owners who could not afford a fence if Randolph County commissioners passed an anti-tethering ordinance.
She made the spur-of-the-moment pledge last October during brief remarks to commissioners who were being asked to consider placing limitations on chaining dogs out of doors. The idea popped into her head that she did not want county leaders to pass on the proposal because it might be a financial burden for some.
So, she volunteered to help.
Randolph commissioners approved the anti-tethering ordinance that night, and Hughes plans to honor her words. There was never any doubt about that. Her daddy, the late Ed Hughes, taught her to say what you’re going to do and to do what you said you are going to do.
She established Flying Hound Fences, under the umbrella of Happy Hills Animal Foundation, a no-kill animal shelter in northeastern Randolph County. The idea is to use cash donations, donated materials and volunteers to build fences for unchained dogs.
“I can’t do this by myself,” she said.
With enough people sharing the workload, Hughes figures a volunteer might only need to give a few hours of time every other month. She envisions erecting fences larger than 10 feet square.
“I don’t think small pens are the answer,” she said. “It’s going to be (built from) whatever we have at our disposal.”
A Durham-based group called the Coalition to Unchain Dogs, whose volunteers build fences (and offer many other services for dogs and their owners), generates some of the money to do the work via fund-raisers. Hughes plans to do the same.
A few have stepped up to say they will help, but so far no one has requested a fence.
Yellow dog
One very cold winter night two years ago, Hughes was so worried about a dog chained in a neighbor’s yard that she could not sleep.
It was not the first night that concern about the yellow dog — left outdoors to fend for itself year-round, no matter the weather — had kept her awake, but on this night, she wrote a song. It was a natural way to express herself. The singing and guitar- and piano-playing Randolph County native has written more than 500 songs.
“Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” came quickly. She uploaded to YouTube a simple video of herself playing the piano and singing the tearjerker. A few months later, she spent three days in a Nashville studio and recorded a more polished version of “Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” with the help of other talented musicians.
She also recorded numerous other songs and released a pair of new compact discs in the summer of 2015 — “From the Heart” and “Fly,” her fifth and sixth CDs. The former features Hughes at her bluegrass best; the latter features her playing piano with cello, violin and bass violin accompaniment. They were released on her own label, Running Dog Records.
“Dog on a 10 Foot Chain” is on both CDs. Soon, DJs started playing “Dog on a 10 Foot Chain.” A lot. It rose to #1 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Bluegrass Songs chart, a spot it held for many weeks.
A video that accompanies the bluegrass version includes heart-rending images of dogs on chains, as well as heart-lifting images of dogs running free.
She wrote another song, “One Less Dog in the Cold,” also designed, as Hughes describes it on her website, “to touch hearts and provoke change/thought/actions” on the issue of chaining dogs. A gut-wrenching video accompanies that song, too.
Hughes also visited the Randolph County Animal Shelter, which is located next to the Randolph County landfill at 1370 County Land Road, Randleman, to film a public service announcement about Randolph County’s anti-tethering law.
The law says
Randolph’s ordinance makes it unlawful to use tethering as the regular method for keeping a dog on the owner’s property. The new ordinance defines tethering as “the act of tying, chaining or restraining a dog to a fixed object with a rope, chain or other device in order to keep the dog confined.”
Dogs can be tethered for “a reasonable period of time” for waste elimination or for exercise on a dog run, but not 24 hours a day.
Penalties and fines will not be assessed until Jan. 1, 2017, to give time to educate the public about the new ordinance. The penalty for violating the tethering section will range from a warning (no fine) to $50 for the first charge, $100 for the second charge and $200 for the third charge.
* * *
For more information about Flying Hound Fences, contact Donna Hughes by phone at (336) 472-6363 or via email at donna@donnahughes.com. Donations of building materials can be dropped off at Happy Hills Animal Foundation, 3143 Happy Hills Drive, Staley, NC 27355; the phone number is (336) 622-3620. To have someone pick up materials, contact Hughes. For more information about the county’s anti-tethering ordinance, call Randolph County Animal Control at (336) 683-8235.
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