Lafayette, LA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 10-121(a) prohibits any dog from running at large, tagged or untagged, and applies on both private and public property unless the private property belongs to the owner or person in charge and is secured against the dog's escape. Section 10-121(b) carves out a single geographic exception: the area on the right just inside the Court Drive entry of Moore Park, including the pond, which is assigned for exercising, training and obedience work with dogs, provided owners keep voice control so the dogs don't interfere with or endanger other park users; a violator loses future access to that training area.

Section 10-121(c) closes the section by stating flatly that all cats may be at large, which the chapter's definitions reinforce -- § 10-71 defines 'running at large' and 'at large and stray' to expressly exclude cats. The definition of running at large in § 10-71 covers any animal encroaching on private or public property without the owner or handler maintaining direct control by leash. Enforcement runs through § 10-73, which lets any police or animal care center officer cite a violation, and impoundment is authorized by § 10-101 for any dog taken up in violation of § 10-121; the stray hold is three business days for an untagged dog and five business days for a tagged dog before the animal care center may treat ownership as forfeited. 00 plus impoundment on a third offense within any 30-day span.