Gretna, LA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 8-33 places the registration duty on whoever "harbors or permits" a cat on their premises, since Section 8-31 defines that person as the owner or keeper regardless of formal title. The tag must be numbered and show the current year, so an expired tag is not a defense. Section 8-34 makes it a separate offense to maliciously or wantonly remove another person's license tag, punishable under the general penalty in Section 1-8. Section 8-35 lets city agents destroy a vicious cat that cannot be safely taken up, but bars anyone else from killing a cat except at the pound or in a genuine emergency involving a mad animal; since 2019 and 2021 amendments (Ord.

Nos. 4884 and 4939), the Gretna City Magistrate can also sign an order compelling animal control to seize and hold any cat shown by probable cause to pose an immediate public-safety threat, pending the owner's court proceedings. 00 with Sections 8-36 and 8-38. Cat owners must also scoop and remove waste under Section 8-39, may not let a cat run loose in a multi-family tenement under Section 8-40, and may not release a neighbor's confined cat under Section 8-41. Gretna's code contains no feral-colony or trap-neuter-release program; registration presumes an identifiable owner.