10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.
Verified from official government sources
New Orleans allows backyard hens: the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance permits up to six chickens as an accessory use without an acreage requirement. Roosters are prohibited citywide — a 2013 amendment classified roosters among wild/exotic animals that may not be kept.
New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Sec. 20.3.C.7
A minimum site size of one (1) acre is required to keep livestock. All livestock shall be kept so as not to cause any adverse impact, including but not limited to odor, noise, drainage, or pest infestation, on any other property.
In New Orleans (Orleans Parish), dogs must be confined to the owner's property or kept on a leash no longer than six feet and accompanied by their owner. A dog off-leash off the owner's property is "at large" and subject to impoundment by the LA/SPCA.
New Orleans City Code Ch. 18, Art. I, Sec. 18-14
A dog that is not within the confines of its owner's home, dog yard, dog pen, primary enclosure or automobile and that is not on a chain or tether which restricts the animal to the confines of its owner's property, nor on a leash no longer than six (6) feet long shall be considered at large.
New Orleans has no breed-specific ban — pit bulls and other breeds are legal. Dogs are regulated by behavior under Louisiana's dangerous-dog statute (La. R.S. 14:102.14) and City Code Ch. 18, which impose confinement and leash duties on any dog declared dangerous, regardless of breed.
La. R.S. 14:102.14
A dangerous dog, while on the owner's property, shall, at all times, be kept indoors, or in a secure enclosure. A dangerous dog may be off the owner's property only if it is restrained by a leash which prevents its escape or access to other persons.
Beekeeping is permitted in New Orleans, but the City sets no detailed hive ordinance in City Code Ch. 18. Colonies are regulated at the state level: Louisiana requires beekeepers to register apiaries with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and hives that become a nuisance are actionable under Ch. 18.
New Orleans prohibits keeping or selling wild or exotic animals as pets. City Code Ch. 18 bars any wild or exotic animal as a pet, and the City has expressly classified roosters among the wild/exotic animals that residents may not keep.
New Orleans City Code Ch. 18, Sec. 18-7
No person shall keep or permit to be kept any wild, or exotic animal as a pet.
New Orleans discourages feeding strays that become a nuisance. Feeding bans do not apply to registered community cats (sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped), but feeding free-roaming or wild animals that draws a nuisance colony or attracts pests can be abated under City Code Ch. 18.
Larger livestock — horses, cattle, goats, sheep, swine — require a one-acre minimum site under the New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and must be enclosed and kept without nuisance. Most residential lots are too small, so backyard livestock is effectively limited to small fowl and rabbits.
New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Sec. 20.3.C.7
A minimum site size of one (1) acre is required to keep livestock. All livestock shall be kept within fences, corrals, barns, enclosures, or pens.
New Orleans addresses animal hoarding through City Code Ch. 18 sanitation and confinement rules plus Louisiana's animal-cruelty statutes. The LA/SPCA, as contracted animal control, investigates neglect and can seize animals kept in unsanitary or overcrowded conditions.
New Orleans sets no strict cap on how many spayed/neutered dogs or cats a household may keep, but every intact (unsterilized) dog needs an Intact Dog Permit, and the LA/SPCA issues these for up to four dogs per applicant. Larger numbers or breeding raise kennel and nuisance concerns.
New Orleans requires cats, like dogs, to be confined and vaccinated under City Code Ch. 18. The City recognizes "community cats" — sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped free-roaming cats — which are exempt from licensing, feeding bans, and registration so long as they do not become a nuisance.
New Orleans City Code Ch. 18, Sec. 18-1 (definitions)
"Community cat" means a feral or free-roaming cat that is without visibly-discernible identification of any kind and has been sterilized, vaccinated, and ear-tipped.
1 cities in Orleans Parish have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Orleans Parish — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
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