Vermilion Parish, LA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Vermilion Parish Code § 6-87 is a performance standard, not a numeric cap. No one can keep at his premises more pet animals than can be properly maintained in a healthy condition without presenting a health or safety hazard to the owner, keeper or others, and without constituting a nuisance to the occupants of neighboring properties. Section 6-12 defines a pet animal as any dog or cat owned or kept by a person for companionship or protection or for sale to others for such purposes, so the standard counts dogs and cats and reaches a keeper who sells them.

Because the section prints no number, the practical test is what the parish can show about health, safety and neighbors. The public nuisance rule in § 6-85 fills in what a hazard or nuisance looks like: a pet animal that is a safety or health hazard, damages or destroys the property of another including gardens, flower beds and trees, creates offensive odors, materially interferes with another person's lawful activities at home, or defecates on property not owned or occupied by the owner or keeper without immediate removal of the feces. Section 6-86 adds curbing duties.

Liability follows the owner definition in § 6-12: an owner is any person with control or purported control over an animal, including the occupant of the premises where the animal is kept or allowed to remain about the premises for three consecutive days or more. A parent or guardian of an owner under 18 is deemed the owner, and when an animal has more than one owner, all are jointly and severally liable. Every dog or cat three months or older also has to be registered under § 6-52.

Animal control officers and law enforcement officers enforce Article II under § 6-23 and can issue a warning or contact law enforcement for a summons and complaint. Under § 6-120, officers can capture and impound pet animals that constitute a safety or health hazard, and under § 6-123 a pet animal that is a known safety or health hazard is not released to the owner or any other person. Under § 6-24 officers can enter premises to impound, excluding a dwelling.