St. Tammany Parish, LA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 10-647 defines "running loose, free or at large" as not being under the immediate control of a competent person restrained by a substantial chain or leash, and specifically says an electronic collar-style leash cannot substitute for a physical one. When not on a leash outside the home, every animal kept in unincorporated St. Tammany Parish must be confined within a fence or structure that keeps it on the property and blocks unsupervised public access; invisible electric fencing can only serve as a secondary restraint layer with warning signs posted on every side of the yard, and owners of animals that are dangerous, vicious, in estrus, or that have escaped or bitten before are banned from relying on it at all.

The section separately regulates tethering: the tether must attach by a properly fitted collar or harness no wider than two inches (no choke or prong collars), must be at least four times the dog's nose-to-tail length plus 12 inches of slack, must weigh no more than three percent of the dog's body weight, and must let the dog move at least 30 feet or else be removed for at least 60 minutes of exercise twice a day; intact dogs may never be tethered. Any citizen, the sheriff, a constable, or an animal control officer can seize an animal found at large, and community cats, licensed hunting dogs while actively working a supervised hunt, and show animals are exempt from the at-large ban.