He saw them building a fence up the street and got their card. And then he lost it.

So the next time Michael “MJ” Smith, saw the volunteers from the Coalition to Unchain Dogs in his Southside neighborhood, the 14-year-old went up and asked: “Can you build a fence for my dog?”

On Saturday, more than three dozen volunteers did. I spent a few hours with them and have written a story that will appear in tomorrow's Durham News and in The Chapel Hill News this coming Sunday.

King (that's him above) marked the 1,000 dog the coalition has built a fence for since founder Amanda Arrington met two dogs on a chain while doing volunteer work and asked her husband Casey, “Why don’t you build them a fence?”

And the couple was there Saturday, hammering posts and bending wire to take King off the chain he’s been tied to since he got too big to stay inside with MJ and his grandparents, James and Lottie Smith.

The coalition has started chapters in other counties and other states. It’s lobbied for local limits on how long dogs can be tied up outdoors.

Over time, Amanda Arrington says, she’s come to learn it’s not just about helping dogs. As she stood on the front walk with the Smiths, cars stopped in the narrow street and asked how it was going. “A beautiful fence for King,” the mailman said and smiled as he passed by. “Happy Day, Happy Day.”

Each new fence is a chance to start a new relationship, Arrington said. And because the coalition takes dogs for shots and spay or neuter operations and returns twice a year to make sure the dogs have shade for summer and hay for winter, the volunteers become part of the community.

“We work in the same neighborhoods week after week,” Arrington said. One fence leads to another as a relative tells a relative or friend tells a friend. Or a boy asks if his dog can be next.

Read the full story later this week, and in Orange County, find out how you can help in this Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

County commissioners will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Aug. 25 on a dog anti-tethering ordinance being considered for 2010.

For more than two years, animal advocates and the county have discussed implementing such a law, based on the premise that chaining or otherwise tethering animals outside is cruel and inhumane, and that the practice contributes to constant barking and even causes dogs to become overly aggressive and attack people who cross into its territory.

The board of commissioners had asked the county's Animal Control Advisory Committee to look at the issue and draft a proposed ordinance.