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When the tiny village of Moreauville, Louisiana passed an ordinance on October 13 banning residents from owning Pit Bulls or Rottweilers, dogs they have deemed to be “vicious dogs,” they gave current residents owning either of these breeds until December 1st to either move from the village with their dogs or rehome the animals.
Any Pit Bulls or Rottweilers within Moreauville after the Decemeber 1 deadline were to be confiscated and taken to a local veterinary clinic for euthanasia and disposal.
But, one family fought back in an effort to save their beloved family dog, Zeus. The family started a Facebook page to share their story and an online petition to overturn the ban, allowing them to keep the dog that sleeps with their children every night and serves as a therapy dog to their disabled daughter.
Now, after national attention and public outcry from around the world, the village of Moreauville has put the December 1 deadline on hold. While this is a good start, this doesn’t mean that the ordinance was reversed.
Zeus, and the other Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, within the town of Moreauville are still not out of the woods yet.
They’ve simply pressed the proverbial pause button until the village leaders can meet again to revisit the topic.
Moreauville Alderman Penn Lemoine said the city board of aldermen, which is comprised of three aldermen and the mayor who represent the town’s 950 residents, will have a special meeting to address the “vicious dog” ordinance following all of the backlash.
The alderman passed the ordinance after complaints from a number of residents in the village who said they couldn’t walk around their neighborhood because some vicious dogs of those breeds weren’t properly contained or leashed, and that the dogs chased them. Not a single dog attack has ever been reported in the village.
Lemoine says that properly enforcing the village’s leash ordinance rather than banning certain dogs might be a more appropriate solution than banning these dog breeds altogether.
For now, Zeus and his family are celebrating this small victory and continuing to fight until they’re absolutely certain their four-legged boy is safe.
While the world waits for Moreauville’s decision, the family is urging supporters to continue signing the petition to reverse the ban. They also ask everyone to take a stand against Breed Specific Legislation to save loving family dogs from being sentenced to death because of the acts of a few irresponsible owners.
