Pit bulls are no longer banned in Lake Arthur

Lake Arthur, LA (KPLC) - Dogs were a topic of discussion at Wednesday’s Lake Arthur Town Council meeting.

The council voted on whether to keep a decades-old ordinance that outlaws pit bulls. Until now, it was against town ordinance to own a pit bull in Lake Arthur, but due to the difficulty in identifying the specific breed, town officials said it was hard to enforce and could be costly.

“As time evolved, they started cross-breeding with boxers, with labs,” Mayor Sampson “Poncho” LeJeune said. “Well, now you have a 10% pit bull. How do you prove that it’s pit? You can do a DNA test, but do you know how much that would cost the city to DNA test every dog we think is a pit bull? It would just be an outrageous amount of money.”

Last month, an ordinance was introduced to discuss rescinding the ordinance that bans the breed. Wednesday, the council voted unanimously to do so. Now the town will rely on its leash law and “vicious dog” ordinance already in place.

“If the officer goes on a call, and he determines it’s vicious, that’s his call to make,” LeJeune said.

The ordinance is no longer effective, immediately.