CHAPEL HILL - The Orange County commissioners delayed a vote on new rules for tying up dogs after hearing from people on both sides of the issue for nearly 90 minutes Tuesday night.

A commissioner said Wednesday it may take more than one additional meeting to make sure the rules are fair and for everyone to have a say.

"It is very difficult," Commissioner Moses Carey said. "All of the parties are right, and we have to sort it out. We owe it to the people to listen to them."

Nearly 30 people spoke at Tuesday's hearing.

Supporters said chaining dogs is cruel and can lead to anti-social behavior and unwanted puppies.

Opponents, including hunters and dog breeders, said the issue is neglect, not how dogs are kept.

Michael Kirk asked which was more cruel, sticking a dog in a cage and going to work, or putting a dog on a line where it can run around all day "happy as a lark."

The rules would restrict tethering to three hours in a 24-hour period, require minimum 10-foot tethers with swivels at each end, and minimum outdoor pen sizes.

An exemption would allow owners to tether hunting dogs for as long as seven days during an event.

But George Painter, president of the Eno River Coon Hunters Association, said he had been told sportsmen would be exempt from the new rules. County Animal Services Director Bob Marotto, confirmed after the hearing that an early draft did propose that exemption.

"This is a people problem, not a dog problem," Painter said. "An animal that is neglected by people will be neglected whether it's in a kennel, on a chain or in a house."

Other speakers concurred but said the new rules would give animal control officers additional enforcement tools. The rules would not take full effect until July 2010, after a year of public education and six months of warnings only.

"I agree it's a people problem," said Amanda Arrington, director of the Coalition to Unchain Dogs. "But sometimes you must legislate to educate those people."

The coalition has built fences for 85 dogs whose owners could not afford to build them. Several said the fences turned their dogs from listless or hard to control animals to happy family pets that could eat their meals indoors or sleep in their masters' bedrooms for the first time.

Pat Sanford, a former director of the Animal Protection Society of Orange County, said she regularly investigated cruelty cases where she found dogs tied up without food and water. Yet when asked to surrender their dogs, owners sometimes said they could never give them up because they loved them too much, she said.

A few speakers spoke in more dramatic terms.

One supporter compared chaining dogs to slavery. A lobbyist for the N.C. Sporting Dog association flatly stated animals do not have rights.

With the clock nearing 11 p.m., Commissioner Mike Nelson said the board needed more time. The commissioners agreed to discuss the issue June 3. The public will have another chance to speak at the meeting.