Killing cat gets Vermilion Parish pit bull death penalty

A pit bull learned that leaving your yard to chase and kill a cat may have seemed like fun at the time, but today, it’s a decision he  or she regrets.

The owner of the pit bull learned Monday night the Vermilion Parish Police Jury gave no mercy to the pit bull or its owner 

The pit bull left its yard, went into the neighbor’s yard and caught and killed the neighbor’s cat.  The neighbor called the Sheriff’s Office after witnessing the attack.

Ricky LeBlanc, who lives near the Gueydan area,  tried to convince the police jury this past Monday not to put his pit bull dog down despite what it did to the cat.

“The dog is not vicious,” he told the jurors. “I know it was not on a leash and it should not have left the yard. But it reacted like any dog would do when it sees a cat.  It chased the cat.”

The police jury has a policy that all dogs considered vicious has to be put down. At times, the jury has voted to spare the lives of dogs or other animals   when the animal owner convinced the jury. However, at last month’s meeting, the jury decided to let Billy Noegel, who oversees the animal control department in the parish, to have the final decision on the fate of the animals.

Noegel informed the jurors he is enforcing the ordinance.

“Every time a pit bull attacks a kid or a cat, they always say the dog is never vicious,” Noegel said.  “The dog was caught killing a cat.”

Pamela Monceaux, who is the parish’s rabies control supervisor, told the jurors the cat owner was upset with the dog attack.

Leon Broussard, the juror from Gueydan, told Noegel and Monceaux to  “Follow the ordinance.”

“I think y’all are wrong, but that is on y’all,” LeBlanc told the jurors.