DILLON, SC (WBTW) – Pit bull owners in Dillon County may soon have to change the outdoor housing they provide for their pets.

In Wednesday afternoon’s Dillon County Council meeting, council members passed the second reading to an animal ordinance that would call for regulations on outdoor pins and homes for pit bulls. The ordinance calls for owners to keep their dog in an outdoor pen with a concrete slab, preventing the dog from digging under a fence and escaping the owner’s yard.

Dillon County Administrator Rodney Berry says the ordinance is being updated to fall in line with an ordinance in the City of Dillon and comes in response to concerns from county residents.

“This was triggered by a response from a citizen that just couldn’t get in the house, and although the pit bull was in the pen, it dug up under (to get out),” explains Berry. “So I think our ordinance addressed today that there has to be a (concrete) slab so the pit bull can’t dig.”

Berry says the ordinance may be tweaked some before the final reading which is planned for the Dillon County Council meeting in June.

If the ordinance passes the third and final reading, it’s not yet clear how long pit bull owners will have to make the necessary changes to their pet’s outdoor living quarters.