The Joplin Health Board is making several recommendations to crack down on aggressive behavior in dogs. Specifically: more strongly encouraging pet owners to spay and neuter their dogs as past study has shown unaltered animals can behave more aggressively; ending the city allowance of a chain or rope as appropriate restraint, also cited as a condition that can encourage aggressiveness; establishing an education program for responsible pet ownership; consider an ordinance change that limits dog ownership if the owner has a previous history of animal control code violations; investigate the ability of the city to initiate an animal control database capable fo tracking animal control code violations as well as animal bite history; possible mantaory fines for owners when the dog involved in the attack was running at large.
