Officers bitten by dog in Springfield Wednesday, police say

Police say two officers were bitten by a dog Wednesday afternoon in Springfield.

Sgt. Tatem Dewitt, with the Springfield Police Department, said officers were in the 1200 block of South Willow Lane searching for a missing 13-year-old boy when a dog in a yard bit two officers, one in the leg and another in the arm.

Police spokesperson Lisa Cox said the officers were searching in places the missing boy had hidden in the past. Officers were in an empty lot, down the street from the child's family, when they got near a neighbor's yard.

The yard's fence had a gap and the dog lunged at the officers through that gap, Cox said. The dog was tethered, but there was enough slack on the leash for it to reach the officers.

One officer was transported to Mercy Hospital with an arm injury and the other officer was treated at the scene for a leg injury, according to Cox.

Animal control responded and was seen loading the dog into a vehicle. An animal control officer on scene said the dog was being taken into quarantine.

Springfield-Greene County Health Department spokesperson Morgan McDonald told the News-Leader Thursday the incident is still under investigation, so no details are being released yet.

The 13-year-old boy was found two hours after he was reported missing. Officers located him a couple of miles away, near the railroad tracks near Cherry Street and Ingram Mill Road, according to Cox.

City Council will consider a plan to ban all pit bulls. Under the proposal, current pit bull owners can keep their pets, but no new pit bull registrations will be accepted. The breed would be phased out of the city over the course of several years.

Right now, the city places certain restrictions on pit bulls. Pit bull owners are required to spay or neuter their dogs, pay an annual registration fee and have a microchip inserted under their pit bull's skin. Among other things, it also requires pit bull owners to keep their dogs confined or leashed and muzzled.

Council weighed lifting those breed-specific restrictions in January but decided to send the issue back to a committee for further debate.

Recently, a few severe pit bull attacks — including one where two toddlers were mauled while playing in their back yard — has shifted the conversation to whether the breed should be allowed in the city at all.

News-Leader reporter Alissa Zhu contributed to this report.