Ouachita Parish, LA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Section 3-55 of the Ouachita Parish Code of Ordinances governs what happens to animals impounded by animal control and not redeemed by their owners. Unlicensed or unidentified animals must be held at least 120 hours, not counting Sundays or legal holidays, per Section 3-55(a); identified animals get the same 120-hour hold while the shelter tries to notify the owner, under Section 3-55(b). Subsection (d) then sets the sterilization condition: an unredeemed animal may be humanely destroyed by lethal injection, or placed for adoption to a new owner, provided that the new owner agrees in writing to surgically sterilize any dog or cat within one month or upon maturity and to provide proper identification in the case of a dog.

The director of animal control retains discretion under Section 3-55(e) to deny an adoption if placement would not serve the animal's or the community's interest. The chapter stops short of a parish-wide mandatory spay-neuter law for all resident-owned pets; the sterilization duty attaches only when a new owner takes an animal home from an impoundment adoption, not to dogs and cats already owned in the parish.