GALLITZIN, Pa. -- It's not the way you would want to live your life so a group of animal rights activist say dogs shouldn't have to live chained up either. One of the members of Dogs Deserve Better spent Wednesday tied up to a doghouse to draw attention to poor treatment of animals.

"It's pretty boring and it's pretty heavy -- pretty lonely out here," said Gina Stiffler, a member of Dogs Deserve Better.

Stiffler described what it felt like being chained to a doghouse. She is among a number of animal rights activists locally and around the country taking part in what's called a "Chain Off", an event meant to discourage pet owners from chaining their dogs outside or leaving them locked up for long periods of time. Both she says are big problems. "And I have flyers up posted of people in the area that have their dogs chained outside," said Stiffler.

The "Chain Off" events are taking place over several days. The one on Wednesday was planned specifically to coincide with the 4th of July.

"Freedom rings, you know, your dogs don't get no freedom tied to a tree or tied to a dog box," said Stiffler. "They don't get no food, no water. They deserve the freedom that we deserve. It's the land of the free."

Stiffler and everyone else involved ultimately want to see laws in place that will protect animals from being chained or penned. They are hoping that the various events event will help drive the message home.