HB 834 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

ANIMALS: Provides relative to animal shelters

HB 834 sets standards for animal shelters in Louisiana handling lost, stray, or unclaimed domestic animals. It requires shelters to follow a 72-hour minimum hold period, make two reasonable attempts to locate owners (including microchip scans 24 hours apart), and maintain records. Shelters may acquire ownership of unclaimed animals after the hold period if they’ve made diligent owner-locating efforts, but cannot disclose transferee contact information without consent or a subpoena. The bill applies to designated shelters (public or private entities) and does not compel municipalities to create shelters or override existing laws about animal ownership.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

May 2026

Introduced Feb 27, 2026 Signed May 15, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB834 Original → HB834 Act · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a proposed draft to an enrolled Act, changing the title from 'HB 834 Original' to 'Act No. 178'. The substantive policy content regarding animal shelter operations remains largely the same, though minor wording adjustments were made to clarify that local governments retain full discretion over shelter selection and to explicitly state that the law does not create a new statewide licensing scheme or increase financial burdens on local entities.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from a proposed legislative text to an officially enacted law (Act No. 178), confirming its legal status.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated to reflect the bill's official enactment as 'Act No. 178' instead of 'HB 834 Original'.

REQUIREMENT

The minimum hold period for unclaimed animals was clarified to be three days (excluding legal public holidays) if no local statute specifies a different period, whereas the original draft mentioned seventy-two hours.

The bill now explicitly states that it does not increase the financial burden on local governmental subdivisions.

Liability protections for shelters and officials were strengthened to cover civil damages for good faith actions, with exceptions only for gross negligence or willful misconduct.

The requirement for shelters to maintain possession of animals was updated to clarify that possession may be constructive and includes allowing foster care, provided the animal is returned upon request.

DEFINITION

New language was added to explicitly state that the law does not create a statewide regulatory licensing scheme for animal shelters.

Floor votes · Senate May 12, 2026 · House Apr 15, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 40

May 12, 2026

D Democratic12

9 Yea 3

75% Yea

R Republican28

27 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Committee

Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably.

upper

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 94, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (14-0).

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development.

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors