Feb. 22, 2011 update.   Councilman Kevin Voisin sent the following regarding Monday’s meeting:

“…We are sending the issue back fo more work and it will be reviewed soon.   One of the issues we identified as needing work at our meeting last night was to avoid a breed specific ordinance.   Thanks for all of the information.   I am sure that we will come up with something that works and moves us forward…”

Editor’s note: Please contact the Terrebonne Parish Council here and politely inform them that there is no such breed as “pit bull” and that breed-specific legislation is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

From Houma Today:

Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 6:01 a.m.

Pit-bull law. Terrebonne Parish Councilman Billy Hebert, who represents Bayou Cane and Broadmoor, researched the possibility of a breed-specific dog law after a 4-year-old was mauled last month in Houma. The issue will be discussed at the Policy, Procedure and Legal Committee meeting at 6:15 p.m. Monday. Any change to parish law must also go to a public hearing, which has not been scheduled in this case, according to council documents.  

Parish Attorney Courtney Alcock drafted a set of rules, similar to those used in other Louisiana parishes, that would require pit bulls and other pit breeds to be housed in a fence or structure at least 6 feet high that children cannot enter. If the dog is outside that structure or the owner’s premises, it must be restrained by a strong leash or chain and muzzled or have another device to restrict it from biting a person or other animal.

These laws require the owner or keeper to have a license from parish animal-control officials and show proof of at least $100,000 of liability insurance to cover any damage or injuries caused by the dog. The owner must also permanently ink or tattoo a registration number to the dog’s inner ear and post signs warning that there is a vicious dog on the premises, the proposed law says.