By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

There was no movement Monday night by the Joplin City Council to ban any particular breeds of dogs to try to reduce aggressive-dog behavior and bites.

Instead, council members informally agreed to look at making changes to the city’s animal-ownership ordinances that would forbid tethering or chaining as a means of securing dogs, require mandatory neutering and spaying, and strictly cite owners for violations of the ordinances.

Members of the Joplin Health Department’s advisory board are to make specific recommendations for council authorization.

The topic of changing the city’s dangerous-dog ordinances drew representatives of several groups: postal workers, the Joplin Humane Society, the Tri-State Kennel Club, veterinarian and health-board member Ben Leavens, and police Chief Lane Roberts.

Dan Pekarek, the health director, said the council had asked the health board to study what could be done to lessen the number of bites and the risk of injury or death by aggressive dogs. Councilman Jim West said he asked for the review last year after a boy was seriously injured when attacked by a pit bull breed.

Pekarek told the council Monday night that in the last three years, there have been 239 dog-bites investigated by city workers. About one in five of those bites was by a pit bull or pit bull mix dogs, but there were 65 different dog breeds involved in the other injuries.

Randy Graham, president of the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said, “The problem we run into as mail carriers is with the irresponsible owners.” He said there is one house on his route where two pit bulls are chained to a tree, and they shake the tree lunging at passers-by.

“There also seems to be neighborhoods here where it’s a badge of honor to have a pit bull and an aggressive one,” he told the council.

Joan Gardner, president of the kennel club, told the council that “there’s nothing worse you can do to a dog” than tethering it. She said she trains pit bulls “and they’re wonderful dogs” if they are treated properly. She encouraged the council to reject breed bans and instead look at enforcing city ordinances against irresponsible animal owners.

Graham and another mail carrier told about a house at which two pit bulls are allowed to jump from a window on a second floor to the roof of the house, where they pace, lunge and bark at pedestrians.

Those dog owners are not only allowing a dangerous situation to exist, but they are eroding the quality of life for other residents of the neighborhood, Graham said.

When mail carriers come across aggressive dogs that are not properly restrained, they quit delivering mail not only to that address, but to everyone on the block, the council was told, until the dog problems are resolved.

The health director told the council that one of the scenarios that keeps cropping up is that people facing prosecution as dangerous-dog owners under existing city ordinances get rid of the dog at issue. But soon, they get another dog and repeat the bad behavior.

Leavens said that chaining or tethering dogs instead of keeping them in proper enclosures such as inside a secure fence, kennel or in a house tends to make dogs aggressive. Dogs also are more aggressive when they are not neutered.

Pekarek said that mandatory spaying and neutering laws would cut down on aggressive behavior and would reduce the number of backyard litters being born and sold without registration.

The city encourages spaying and neutering by issuing free pet licenses to the owners for those dogs and cats. The city charges $25 for a pet license for an animal that is not spayed or neutered.

If the city required spaying and neutering, animals that weren’t could be impounded and court appearances of the owners required with the judge setting a time limit for the owners to comply or they would have to give up the animal.

Councilman Michael Seibert suggested that the city conduct a campaign encouraging residents to report aggressive dogs to target them for enforcement. Another council member, Bill Scearce, said the city might need to hire more animal control officers.

Pekarek said the city has three animal-control officers to cover shifts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Council members agreed informally that the health board, through the city attorney, should propose legislation for the council to consider passing by the end of the year.



Reaction

Joan Gardner, president of the Tri-State Kennel Club, said after the meeting she was relieved the City Council did not favor a ban of specific dog breeds. “They’re not overreacting,” she said. “They’re being level headed” by considering ways to strengthen the city’s animal control laws without banning pit bulls, she said.