It could have — should have — been so much easier, done without the months-long delay or the whiff of rancor and discord that permeated recent meetings at Dallas City Hall. Because amid the debate, the most acrimonious of which took place on petitions and in meetings held out of the public's view, there was just one obvious, inevitable outcome: outlawing the tethering of dogs in the city limits.

That, finally, is just what the Dallas City Council voted to do Wednesday morning — without any discussion. It was the right thing to do, because it was the only thing to do.

A dog tethered by a heavy metal chain stands outside a house on Medill St. in Dallas, Nov. 21, 2013. (Guy Reynolds)

And so, beginning Feb. 1, you will no longer be allowed to tie up a dog in the yard and leave it there. Because doing so is inhumane, cruel. Because doing so makes good dogs mean. Because doing so puts people at risk.

According to the new rules adopted by the council, tethering an animal is allowed only under very, very specific conditions, chief among them "the dog is in the owner's immediate possession and accompanied by the owner." And, the owner must "use a properly fitted harness or collar that is specifically designed for the dog." And, finally, the owner must "attach the tethering device to the dog's harness or collar and not directly to the dog's neck."

It's a stark contrast to the rules that have been on the books for close to a decade, including one that allowed owners to tie up their dogs and leave them unattended for up to three hours. It was a ridiculous, unenforceable rule that city staff could never explain except to say, yeah, OK, it was "kind of abstract," in the words of assistant city manager Joey Zapata back in May. It was also unenforceable. Unless a cop was willing to sit in someone's yard for three hours and stare at a tethered dog.

It took almost a year to get to Wednesday's vote and involved numerous meetings of the Animal Advisory Committee, a very vocal residents' work group and the council's Quality of Life Committee, along with sit-downs with city attorneys, city managers and Dallas Animal Services staffers. As the council has been told over and over since January, there was much disagreement on how far to go — somewhere between making tethering legal, if only to tamp down the number of loose dogs terrorizing some neighborhoods, and banning it outright unless the owner's in reach.

But in the end, council member Sandy Greyson said in October, a full-on ban is perfect. "What everyone wanted," said the chair of Quality of Life.

The ban doesn't arrive until February because the city says it needs time to tell people that tethering's now illegal. Only, it's not yet clear how City Hall is going to spread the word. Nor is it clear how this ban will be enforced. Greyson's committee was told last month that if someone complains about a tethered dog, an officer will first check the location to see if there have been prior issues. If not, warnings will be sent by mail — twice.

If there's a third complaint, only then will an officer pay a visit to the offending location. And even then, there's no guarantee an offender will be hit with a $500 fine. The council was told last month the officer will decide, on the spot, whether to "educate or cite."

The only person who spoke about the ban in council chambers Wednesday was animal activist Stephanie Timko, the activist who's shouted loudest about the cruelty done to animals dumped, dead or alive, in southern Dallas. She spoke of how tethering is the "gateway to abuse and neglect." And she said "a ban is not just a humane move, it's a smart public safety move."

Good council. Good council.