Vermilion Parish police jury has to decide fate of pit bull that killed a cat

The Vermilion Parish Jury has a decision to make - whether to put down a pit bull that killed a neighbor’s cat, who ventured out of its own yard and near the pit bull.
A couple from Kaplan attended a police jury committee meeting last week to plead their case not to kill their pit bull, because it killed their neighbor’s cat.
The Vermilion Parish Police Jury has a policy that states if a dog is deemed “vicious” because it killed another animal or bit a person, it has to be put down, no questions asked.
The owner of the dog explained to the jurors what occurred last month in Kaplan. She admitted her dog, who was in a fenced-in area behind her house and on a leash, crawled under the fence and caught the cat, while still on a leash.
The cat was not in its owner’s yard and walked over near the pit bull’s house, according to the owner of the dog.
The cat’s owner, who was not at the meeting, called the Kaplan police about the pit bull attack. According to the Kaplan police report, it says the cat was killed in its own yard by the dog. But, according to the Kaplan police report, no tickets were given because both animals were at large.
The pit bull owner said the dog was not in the neighbor’s yard when it killed the cat.
Police jury attorney Paul Moresi will investigate the incident and report back to the police jury. Moresi told the jurors they have to decide if the pit bull was provoked by the cat. Moresi said because both animals were not in their own yard, then it is not clear cut whether the dog has to be put down.
“It is a gray area,” said juror Dane Hebert.
“It seems like to punish the dog owner with our ordinance, the cat owner also needs to be charged,” said juror Wayne Touchet.