SPRINGFIELD -- As the “city” moves farther out into the “country,” problems of the city inevitably spread with it.  That includes the problem of dogs running loose. 

  The Greene County Commission is working to solve that particular problem in part of the county in which about 30,000 people live.  It's adopted a city-type ordinance -- basically a leash or fence law -- for what’s known as the Urban Service Area outside the Springfield city limits. 

  In that area, currently, the only way the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s animal control officers can respond to an animal complaint is if it's a serious problem, meaning someone has already been bitten.  The new ordinance will change that in the Urban Service Area, “the part of the county surrounding the City of Springfield that looks like the City of Springfield,” said Tim Smith, the county’s resource management director.

  A lot of subdivisions have sprouted and are sprouting in that area.  Animal Control officers will now have more territory to cover.

 “They will respond to dogs in the Urban Service Area that are not on a leash, are threatening or vicious,” said Smith.

  Some things are still being worked out, like a start date for the law and a well-defined map of what falls in and out of the Urban Service Area. 

  Animal Control will add one officer and a truck to help cover the added area.  The start date is on or before Jan. 1.  Punishment ranges from $250 to $1,000 fines, destruction of the dog, and up to 180 days in jail.

  The law addresses the issue of vicious dogs.  A dog found by the Health Department Director to be vicious or threatening must be declared as such and its owner must get a permit every year and keep the dog securely confined.