Louisiana Dog Bite Law

How dog bite liability works in Louisiana

Louisiana's dog bite rule sits in its Civil Code, in an article that Louisiana courts have long compared with article 1385 of the French Civil Code². Article 2321 once made owners answerable for any animal. In 1996 the legislature rewrote it: owners of other animals now answer only for negligence, but "the owner of a dog is strictly liable" for injuries to persons or property that the owner could have prevented and that did not result from the victim's provocation¹. Amendments in 2024 and 2025 added livestock rules and left the dog sentence unchanged¹.

Strict does not mean automatic. In Pepper v. Triplet, 864 So.2d 181 (La. 2004), the Louisiana Supreme Court read "could have prevented" to mean the injured person must show the dog posed an unreasonable risk of harm, weighed case by case². Once that is shown, the owner is presumed at fault and need not have known the dog was dangerous. A loose dog that bites a passer-by usually meets the test. A dog behind a secure fence that bites an adult who climbs in usually does not².

Two recent laws changed the numbers that matter most. Act 423 of 2024 replaced Louisiana's old one-year prescription period with two years for injuries after July 1, 2024^5,6. Act 15 of 2025 ended pure comparative fault: from January 1, 2026, a victim found 51% or more at fault recovers nothing^3,4. Louisiana gives no extra time to bitten children⁷.

Compare Texas, where the owner must have known the dog was dangerous, and Mississippi, or see all states in the national table.

The Louisiana dog bite statute

"The owner of a dog is strictly liable for damages for injuries to persons or property caused by the dog and which the owner could have prevented and which did not result from the injured person's provocation of the dog"¹. It covers any injury the dog causes, not only bites, and damage to property such as another pet¹. The Supreme Court requires proof that the dog posed an unreasonable risk of harm; after that the owner is liable unless the harm was due solely to a third person's fault, a fortuitous event, or provocation².

• Law: La. Civ. Code art. 2321(B) (Damage caused by animals), enacted 1996; last changed 2025 (Act 488, livestock rules; the dog sentence has read the same since 1996)
• Injuries covered: Any injury the dog causes (bites, knock-downs, chases)
• Where: Anywhere
• Who is liable: The owner
• Damages: All damages, under the ordinary rules

Other ways to prove liability

Louisiana courts rejected the "first bite is free" rule in Holland v. Buckley (La. 1974), as Pepper v. Triplet recounts, and the 1996 revision kept strict liability for dogs². A plaintiff can also plead negligence under the general duty-risk analysis of Civil Code articles 2315 and 2316, as the plaintiff did in Pepper^2,8. Negligence is the only route against someone who kept but did not own the dog¹⁰. Leash and at-large ordinances are parish and city law; a violation is evidence of fault, and the criminal statutes treat it as "presumptive evidence" of negligence^18,19.

Defenses owners raise

Provocation

Article 2321 excludes injuries that resulted from the injured person's provocation of the dog¹. Under Pepper v. Triplet, the plaintiff must establish that the injuries did not result from provocation².

Trespassing

Louisiana has no automatic trespasser bar, but in Pepper v. Triplet an adult neighbor who let himself into a fenced yard "turn[ed] the dog loose upon himself": a securely confined dog posed no unreasonable risk of harm, so neither strict liability nor negligence applied².

Other defense

The owner escapes strict liability if the harm was due solely to the fault of a third person the owner is not responsible for, or to a fortuitous event².

Other defense

Strict liability falls only on the owner. A landlord, dog sitter or other non-owner is liable only in negligence, and courts have required a landlord to have actual knowledge of the dog's vicious propensity¹⁰.

Shared fault

Modified comparative fault (barred at 51%) (La. Civ. Code art. 2323).

Each party's percentage of fault is set by the jury or judge. Since January 1, 2026, if your share is 51% or more you recover nothing; below that, your damages are reduced by your percentage^3,4. The article applies "regardless of the basis of liability," so it reduces strict-liability claims under article 2321³. Before 2026 Louisiana used pure comparative fault, and Act 15 of 2025 contains no clause on whether it reaches bites that happened before 2026⁴. Fault is not compared when the other person acted intentionally³.

How the five fault systems compare: provocation, trespass and shared fault.

Louisiana dog bite statute of limitations

2 years (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1)

Delictual actions, including dog bite claims, prescribe two years from the day the injury or damage is sustained⁵. Act 423 of 2024 created this period, repealed the old one-year rule of article 3492, and applies only to claims arising after its July 1, 2024 effective date; a bite before then carried a one-year period, which has run⁶.

Children. Prescription runs against minors unless a law makes an exception, and article 3493.1 makes one only for product liability claims, so a parent must file a bitten child's claim within the same two years^5,7.

Work out your own date with the dog bite claim checker, or compare deadlines in every state.

Damages

Article 2315 obliges the person at fault to repair the damage: medical costs, lost earnings, pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, and loss of consortium for close family; future medical costs require a manifest physical or mental injury⁸. A parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse or child who saw the attack, or came upon the scene soon after, can recover for their own severe, debilitating mental anguish under article 2315.6⁹. Louisiana allows exemplary damages only where a statute provides them, such as for drunk drivers under article 2315.4; none applies to dog bites²⁶.

Landlords and property owners

A landlord is not strictly liable for a tenant's dog: article 2321's strict liability "cannot be imputed to a nonowner"¹⁰. The landlord can be liable in negligence only with actual knowledge of the dog's vicious propensity. In George v. Paffen, 957 So.2d 861 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2007), neighbors' complaints about barking and roaming, and an animal-control visit that ended with no citation, were not enough, and the landlord won summary judgment¹⁰. More at landlord liability.

Insurance

No Louisiana statute found for this page limits homeowners or renters insurers' use of dog breed. State law requires no liability insurance or bond for a dog declared dangerous or vicious^13,16.

More on coverage, breed exclusions and renters policies: dog bite insurance.

Pepper v. Triplet: what "strictly liable" means in Louisiana

The 1996 rewrite of article 2321 added an odd phrase: the owner is strictly liable for injuries "which the owner could have prevented"¹. Lower courts split. The Second Circuit read it to require only that the dog caused the harm without provocation; others called that absolute liability². In Pepper v. Triplet, 864 So.2d 181 (La. 2004), the Supreme Court settled it. A 13-year-old Lab-husky mix lived behind a four-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. A neighbor let himself in through the gate to get a ball and was bitten². The court held the plaintiff must show the dog posed an unreasonable risk of harm, judged by weighing the risk and its gravity against the dog's utility, the test from Boyer v. Seal (La. 1989)². A securely confined dog posed no such risk to someone who breached the security. The court said this was "not a case of a dog running down the street unfettered to prey upon the public," and ruled for the owner². The test still governs every Louisiana dog case.

Bite reports and quarantine

The state Sanitary Code requires that a dog that bites a person be confined or tested, and that any dog showing signs of illness during observation be reported immediately to the local health authority²⁰. Suspected rabies in a person or animal must be reported to the Department of Health by phone within 24 hours²³. No statewide rule found for this page requires every bite to be reported beyond these; parish and city animal control ordinances set their own reporting duties.

A dog that bites a person must be confined for at least 10 days, or killed and its head sent to the state laboratory for rabies testing; no rabies vaccine should be given during observation²⁰. The owner, a veterinarian or a shelter must keep the dog caged or otherwise unable to contact any person or animal, and tethering is not allowed²⁰. Parish or city animal control decides whether observation happens at home, a clinic or a shelter; state guidance discourages home observation for never-vaccinated or dangerously aggressive dogs²¹.

Dangerous-dog hearings, euthanasia orders and criminal penalties are covered on Louisiana dangerous dog law.

Questions about Louisiana dog bite law

Is Louisiana a strict liability state for dog bites?

Yes. Civil Code article 2321 makes the owner strictly liable without proof that they knew the dog was dangerous¹. You must still show the dog posed an unreasonable risk of harm and that you did not provoke it, under Pepper v. Triplet². See strict liability states.

Is the deadline for a Louisiana dog bite claim one year or two?

Two years for a bite after July 1, 2024, under article 3493.1⁵. The old one-year period of article 3492 was repealed by Act 423 of 2024, and applies only to claims that arose before that date⁶. Many websites still show one year.

My dog bit someone in Louisiana. Will it be put down?

Not automatically. The dog is confined for at least 10 days for rabies observation²⁰. Euthanasia requires a district court hearing: it is mandatory only for a "vicious" dog that seriously injured or killed someone after an earlier dangerous-dog finding, and discretionary for other dogs that injure people without provocation^12,15,17. You have five days to appeal¹².

Can I sue if a dog sitter's or a friend's dog bit me?

Article 2321's strict liability applies only to the owner^1,10. You can sue the owner even if someone else was watching the dog, and you can sue the keeper for negligence if they failed to use reasonable care^2,10.

Does my share of the blame matter after a dog bite in Louisiana?

Yes. For trials under the law in force since January 1, 2026, your damages are cut by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you are 51% or more at fault^3,4. The rule applies to strict-liability claims too³.

Official contacts

Sources

1. Louisiana Civil Code art. 2321 (damage caused by animals; livestock), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. Pepper v. Triplet, 2003-C-0619 (La. 1/21/04), 864 So.2d 181, CourtListener (Supreme Court of Louisiana opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
3. Louisiana Civil Code art. 2323 (comparative fault), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
4. Résumé digest, Act 15 (HB 431), 2025 Regular Session, Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
5. Louisiana Civil Code art. 3493.1 (delictual actions), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. Act No. 423 (HB 315), 2024 Regular Session, enrolled, Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. Louisiana Civil Code art. 3468 (incompetents), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. Louisiana Civil Code art. 2315 (liability for acts causing damages), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. Louisiana Civil Code art. 2315.6 (damages caused by injury to another), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
10. George v. Paffen, 06-890 (La. App. 5 Cir. 5/15/07), 957 So.2d 861, CourtListener (Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
11. La. R.S. 14:102.12 (definitions), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
12. La. R.S. 14:102.13 (hearing to determine if dog is dangerous or vicious), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
13. La. R.S. 14:102.14 (unlawful ownership of dangerous dog), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. La. R.S. 14:102.15 (unlawful ownership of a vicious dog), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. La. R.S. 14:102.16 (seizure and destruction or disposition of dangerous or vicious dogs), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
16. La. R.S. 14:102.17 (registration of dangerous dogs; fees), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
17. La. R.S. 14:102.18 (seizure and disposition of dogs which cause death or inflict bodily injury), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
18. La. R.S. 14:32 (negligent homicide), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
19. La. R.S. 14:39 (negligent injuring), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
20. Louisiana Administrative Code tit. 51, pt. III, ch. 1 (Sanitary Code: control of rabies), as amended May 2019, Louisiana Department of Health. Checked 17 October 2026.
21. Appropriate Ten-Day Observation in Dogs, Cats or Ferrets That Have Bitten Human Beings in Louisiana (updated April 29, 2019), Louisiana Department of Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section. Checked 17 October 2026.
22. Protocol for Animal Control and Law Enforcement Agencies addressing animal bites and potential rabies exposures (August 28, 2019), Louisiana Department of Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section. Checked 17 October 2026.
23. Rabies (Infectious Disease Epidemiology manual), Louisiana Department of Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section. Checked 17 October 2026.
24. Louisiana village bans pit bulls, pit bull mixes (September 26, 2019), KALB / KPLC. Checked 17 October 2026.
25. Louisiana reports its first rabies case in a dog since 2014 (September 11, 2026), Louisiana Illuminator. Checked 17 October 2026.
26. Louisiana Civil Code art. 2315.4 (additional damages; intoxicated defendant), Louisiana State Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.