YORK COUNTY, S.C. - Molly, Rocky and Rumor are the names of the three pits David Morrison keeps inside his York home. 23 others, including a dog named Charlie, are kept outside, chained up. Charlie is kept on a chain that Morrison says complies with the county ordinance, meaning it doesn't exceed ten percent of Charlie's weight and the clasp is on a swivel. "A lot of them enjoy being on the chain, they enjoy being tethered,” says 30-year-old Morrison. He has owned, bred, and shown American pit bull terriers for ten years. He says it's people who don't understand the breed that insist they shouldn't be kept on chains. FOX Charlotte's Morgan Fogarty asked, "Would they be happier if they had a big fenced yard?" Morrison says, "I've tried it. They run over it, under and through it."

Animal rights groups are pushing for anti-tethering laws in York County. They also want a required amount of space for each animal and mandatory spay/neutering for pits. Morrison says he feels harassed by some of the groups, even going so far as to call them "home grown terrorists.” He says, "This is America. As long as my dogs are taken care, they have food, they have water, they have attention, [we should be left alone.]”

Morrison didn't want to show us anything past a security fence in the backyard, he says he installed because of prying eyes. He also worries that his dogs might be targeted by thieves and end up in a dog fighting ring, something he says he adamantly opposes. Morrison says, "They assume we're fighting them, and we're not."

He says he would like to work with local animal rights groups to help drive out pit bull fighters in York county.

Currently, there is no restriction on the number of dogs you can have in York County. At one point, Morrison had 60 pits by himself, but says it got to be too much to handle. He feels the number of pets you have is a personal choice, not one to be made by the government.