GADSDEN, Ala. — An Alabama city is taking steps to outlaw the tethering of animals.

The Gadsden City Council recently passed an ordinance to ban tying up animals but won’t enforce it until after a grace period, The Gadsden Times reported.

Some cities allow tethering, but only for a certain amount of time. But Gadsden Police Chief Lamar Jaggears said police and animal control officers don’t have time to monitor how long a dog has been outside.

“If you pass an ordinance that they can only be on a cable for a certain number of hours, you’ve wasted everyone’s time,” he said.

The chief said a ban on tethering is more easily enforceable.

Some speakers worried that local animal shelters will fill up if the ban took effect immediately, so the council included a 60-day grace period. It will start after the mayor signs the ordinance.

Animal shelters in Athens and Huntsville — two cities with no-tethering ordinances — they didn’t have any overcrowding, said Jessica Millican, executive director of the Humane Society Pet Rescue and Adoption Center.

Millican said that a combination of a grace period and volunteer work averted a sudden influx of animals.

The tethering ordinance deals with animals at home, and will have no effect on the city’s leash law, officials said.