Jane Huh
News-Leader
Local officials have started 2007 by taking a tougher stance on aggressive animals and their owners.
The Greene County Commission met Tuesday and officially revised the county's first animal control ordinance.
The new rule prohibits dogs from running loose within the Urban Animal Control Area, a densely populated, unincorporated area that surrounds Springfield, Battlefield and most of Republic.
Dogs that are found running at large will be picked up by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department's animal control officers.
Commissioner Harold Bengsch said the new rule marked a "major, historic first step for the county." Commissioner Roseann Bentley added that she was "happy to second it," noting that all three commissioners — including Presiding Commissioner Dave Coonrod — were surprised that residents who have contacted them so far have been "appreciative" of the ordinance.
Owners who do not comply face misdemeanor charges with fines of up to $1,000 or up to six months in the Greene County Jail.
But there will be a grace period to give county residents time to adjust to the revised ordinance. Full enforcement is slated to take effect Jan. 15.
The county ordinance defines a nuisance dog as one that repeatedly displays threatening behavior by "growling, baring teeth, chasing or lunging towards an individual or individuals, bicyclists, motor vehicles, or domesticated animals or livestock or attacks domesticated animals or livestock."
It defines a vicious dog as one that, without provocation, "demonstrates a pattern of unequivocal viciousness, bites or injures a human being or exhibits a pattern of behavior of biting or attacking or attempting to bite or attack" people. A dog that "inappropriately" attacks domesticated or livestock animals off its owner's property would also be labeled as vicious.
Springfield-Greene County Health Department Director Kevin Gipson and other designated officials will also help determine whether a dog is vicious or a nuisance. Owners must pay an annual fee of $150 for a nuisance dog or $275 for a vicious dog. Owners with more than one vicious dog must pay $150 for each additional dog.
There are exceptions to the new rules.
Dogs that run loose on the owner's property, are inside a vehicle or are engaged with the owner for training, farming and hunting purposes are exempt from the rule.
Law enforcement canines and dogs that are protecting their owner in the event of a crime are also exempt.
On Jan. 22, the county commission is expected to approve $94,000 in the 2007 budget to pay for a ninth animal control officer and an additional vehicle for the department.
That sum will pay for a new animal control officer and another vehicle at the department, which now has a roster of eight officers.
The new officer is expected to begin work by the end of the month, said Jim Fry, the department's coordinator of environmental health services.
The county's inaugural animal ordinance comes about three months after Springfield's regulation on pit bull dogs was enforced.
Last April, the Springfield City Council approved a breed-specific ordinance that requires owners within the city to register their pit bulls, to keep the dog muzzled in public and to have the dog microchipped, among other conditions.
That ordinance, which is still being met with resistance from some residents, went into effect on Oct. 16.
"We receive the occasional calls on the pit bull ordinance still," Fry said. "Most are still not in favor of it."
Since mid-October, health department officials registered at least 322 pit bulls and issued 38 tickets to non- complying pit bull owners, Fry said.
"We've not had many registrations through the Christmas holiday," Fry said.
The city's pit bull owners must register their pit bulls with the city, paying an annual fee of $50 per dog, and the dog must wear a city-issued tag. Pit bulls must also be vaccinated for rabies, spayed or neutered, muzzled in public, microchipped and kept in a fenced-in enclosure if they are outside and unattended for a period of time.
Owners must also post "Pit Bull Dog" signs at the entrances of a residence.
Owners who would rather not deal with the new policy can give up their dogs to the city, which means the animal might be euthanized.
Reference:news-leader
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