Officials in St. Charles Parish defend their own restrictions on pit bulls after national pressure forced the town of Moreauville to repeal its own ordinance banning anyone from owning the breed.
“I’ll say this—I like our law,” said St. Charles Parish Animal Control Director Angela Robert.
Moreauville’s mayor, Timmy Lemoine, came under fire after a little girl posted a video online about her own pit bull. The video came after a Moreauville law that banned ownership of pit bulls was passed by the village.
The girl, identified as O’Hara Owen, said she suffered from a medical condition which her dog was trained to recognize. Owen told viewers that members of her local government were going to take the dog away.
“I didn’t want to be known as the mayor who shut the village of Moreauville down,” Lemoine said about threats he alleged were made by national groups.
The village later repealed the law.
Louisiana is one of a handful of states that allow cities or parishes to pass “breed-specific” laws. As such, local governments are free to make laws that place restrictions on pet ownership.
Though St. Charles Parish does not ban pit bulls, it does have ordinances in place that restrict ownership of the breed. Specifically, owners of pit bulls who intend to leave the animal unattended outside must provide a roughly 8-foot square pen with 6-foot-high fencing that gets inspected by animal control.
Robert said that the legislation also serves to hinder dog fighting operations by giving animal control the impetus to monitor accumulation of the breed.
She said that though microchipping is required of pit bulls and “hybrid wolf” breeds, this has more of a practical slant. Pit bulls, she said, are the most stolen breed in the parish.
The ordinance also calls for removal of the animal from the owner in the event of a complaint being lodged, though Robert said that animals that cause problems are treated the same, regardless of breed.
“The pit bulls aren’t the problem, it’s the people,” Robert said. “Pit bulls want to please their owners, so when they’re taught to fight they will fight until they’re dead because their owner is praising them to do so.”
Both Robert and Lemoine gave similar sentiments that these restrictions often spring from the community and not from a personal bias public officials have against the breed.
“Pit bulls have such a stigma to them that when people get afraid that the dog is running at large, it helps ease their mind to let them know we’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna make sure they’re penned up.” Robert said.
Robert said that neutering a male pit bull helps to mitigate much of the danger posed. The animal shelter, she said, has a program to assist income-qualifying people in paying for the operation, and can otherwise recommend capable veterinary doctors.
In addition to Moreauville, five other municipalities in Louisiana currently have bans on pit bulls, including Morgan City.
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