Who ever thought revising Montgomery County's laws on tying up dogs could get so complicated?

The county's animal anti-cruelty laws were last updated in 2002, so back in October County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) proposed banning tethering altogether, unless the dog's owner was outside and within visual sight of the dog. County Council Public Safety Committee members said that was too restrictive, but at the same time weren't ready to back any of the alternatives, which included allowing tethering only if the dog's owner was at home and monitoring the dog.

Well, committee members finally seemed to make a decision today: limit tethering to only two hours a day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and owners would have to use a swivel leash, which is designed to prevent entanglement.

The county currently lets owner tie up their dogs for as long as they want during a 16-hour window between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., except in emergency weather conditions.

"That is an extraordinarily long time to have a dog tethered and can raise all kinds of problems I think," County Councilman Phil Andrews (D-Dist. 3) said. "And there’s been a lot of information provided that that is not only cruel to dogs but that it’s also bad for public safety because of the impact it has on the animal’s behavior."

But Andrews was hesitant to recommend capping tethering to two hours a day, in case an owner needed to tie up a dog later in the day, too.

Councilmen Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) and Marc Elrich (At-Large), then suggested giving a dog a two or three hour break in between being tethered, but the rule was getting more complicated and even more difficult to enforce.

"I’d have to look at the enforcement end, and the two-hour surveillance is difficult and sometimes may not be able to be done," Director of of the Animal Services Division Capt. Michael Wahl said. "The shorter the time period the better for the enforcement end of things."

And what's the point of a new law if it can't really be enforced properly? So Andrews and the committee members agreed to just capping tethering to two-hours a day, consecutive or otherwise.

The outcome pleased animal advocates, such as Susan Rich of the Animal Protection Alliance of Montgomery County.

"Two hours allows people to run to the store, and look, people who leave their dogs for short periods of time are usually responsible pet owners," Rich said.

Rich hopes the legislation (which will be an amendment to what County Executive Leggett proposed) will come up for council vote before winter is in full swing, but that's unlikely unless it's fast-tracked; Council legislative analyst Susan Farag said it may not be up for vote until Jan. 18, when the council returns from recess.