Bossier Parish, LA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 14-5(b) bars any person from keeping a wild or exotic species of land animal, reptile, or bird, warm-blooded or cold-blooded, without first getting permission from the Police Jury or a permit issued in substantial compliance with Section 14-4, the parish's commercial animal handling establishment permit process. The section carves out caged pet rodents, pet birds, and animals kept in aquariums, which need no permit. Separately, Section 14-5(a) requires owners of fierce, dangerous, or vicious animals to confine them within a building or enclosure in a manner that keeps the animal from contacting any person or other animal except under supervised conditions.

The parish health unit or another designated agency is authorized to destroy any wild, exotic, or vicious animal found in violation of the section that cannot be safely captured or impounded, though it remains unlawful for any private person to kill a dog or other animal by shooting or poisoning outside the parish health unit or another place the Police Jury designates, except in a bona fide emergency to protect person or property.