After a Bite, Escape, Injury or Storm: Incident Records for Louisiana Dog Businesses

Protect people and animals from more harm. Call 911 for an emergency. Get medical care for a person who was bitten or hurt, and veterinary care for a dog that needs it. Then secure the dog so it can't make contact again, and leave the scene as it is long enough to photograph it.

Once people are safe, contact the dog's owner and emergency contacts, notify the right local office, and save photos, messages and receipts as they come in. Later you'll track observation, reunification if the dog got loose, and reopening.

After a bite, one rule shapes everything else. The LDH Rabies Sanitary Code says that when a dog, cat or ferret bites a human being, the animal must be confined for at least 10 days after the bite, or killed and submitted for rabies examination under the rule. A bite is never only a private matter between you and the owner.

Jot the basics before the calls start and finish the full record later that day. A practical incident record includes:

• An incident number, the date, time and exact location, and who filled out the form.
• The dog's name, description, owner, microchip or license information, and vaccination information, plus any other animals involved.
• Names and contacts for the injured person (when appropriate), staff, clients and witnesses.
• A neutral, step-by-step account of what you saw, including what happened just before and just after.
• The status of the leash, gate, crate, door, vehicle, fence or other equipment.
• Photos, video, scene measurements and where each file is stored.
• First aid, medical care or veterinary care given.
• Owner and emergency-contact calls and messages, each with a timestamp.
• The local office you contacted, the report number, the officer's name and the instructions you got.
• Confinement, observation, impoundment, transfer or return details.
• Follow-up dates and the changes you'll make to prevent a repeat.

Write what you observed, not what it means. "The leash clip opened and the dog ran toward the jogger" is useful; "the jogger provoked the dog" is a judgment.

Restrict access to the file, keep an unedited original of every photo and message, and back it up somewhere other than your phone. Pet Sitters International recommends keeping current client and emergency-contact information on hand, which makes the owner call much faster.

A human bite goes to the local health authority, which the Sanitary Code defines as a parish or municipal health officer, department or other agency responsible for public health. In practice, contact your parish health unit and your animal-control office according to the local process, and the police or sheriff where your area routes reports through them.

Baton Rouge spells its route out: its dog regulations require a human bite to be reported within 24 hours to the Animal Control and Rescue Center, the police department or the sheriff's office. Other cities set their own channels, covered further down.

Don't assume someone else already called. Get a report number and the officer's name, and note exactly what you were told to do with the dog. With the injured person, share facts and contact details and leave fault out of it.

During observation, the dog is confined and watched. If it develops symptoms, the Sanitary Code requires them to be reported immediately to the local health authority. Where the dog stays depends on the local process. In Baton Rouge, the city's published guidance says the dog will be impounded and observed for rabies for 10 days, with the location depending on the circumstances.

It feels natural to hand the dog back to its owner at pickup time and call it done. Don't. Your business should not release the dog on its own or decide that observation isn't needed. Wait for the health authority or animal control to say where the dog goes, then record the handoff: who took the dog, when, where and on whose instructions.

If the owner asks where the dog will be observed or who pays a fee, give them the report number and the office's contact.

Not every bite makes a dog legally dangerous. Under R.S. 14:102.14, a dangerous dog is one that, when unprovoked, bites a person and causes an injury; or, on two separate occasions within the prior 36 months, behaves in a way that requires defensive action to prevent bodily injury while off the owner's property; or, on two separate occasions within 36 months, kills, seriously bites or injures a domestic animal off the owner's property.

The owner of a dangerous dog must keep it indoors or in a secure enclosure on the property, and on a leash that prevents escape or access to other people off it. A dog a court has found dangerous also requires warning signs, and the owner must notify animal control in writing within two days if the dog dies, is sold or transferred, or is permanently removed from the municipality or parish.

Vicious is a separate category. R.S. 14:102.15 defines it through specified circumstances involving serious bodily injury or death, with exceptions. Under R.S. 14:102.13, the district attorney, sheriff, an animal-control officer or another designated representative can petition the district court. The judge orders the owner to show cause why the dog should not be declared dangerous or vicious, with the hearing set no later than five days from that order. The court decides the classification and can order restraint, confinement or euthanasia; for a dog found vicious, the statute directs humane euthanasia. The owner can appeal within five calendar days. Sections 14:102.13 to 14:102.17 also address licensing, rabies vaccination, secure confinement and fees.

Your record states facts; it does not decide whether a dog is dangerous or who is legally responsible. Preserve the file, cooperate with the authority, and let the court decide.

An escape record is a timeline. Write down the last confirmed location and time, the likely route, the dog's description, and its collar, tag or microchip details. Then log each search action as it happens: calls, sightings, notices posted, and finally the return or transfer, with the time and who received the dog.

For an injury, record what you could see, not a diagnosis. Note the clinic, your arrival time, who authorized care, every owner contact, the invoice, and the discharge or transfer details. Treatment decisions belong to the veterinarian; keep their instructions in the file as given.

Sort out authorization before you need it. Pet Sitters International says a veterinary release should authorize emergency veterinary care, and warns that a vet's office may still require direct permission from the owner. Keep the signed release and the owner's emergency contacts in each client's file.

Storms put dogs in motion, so the record has to show where every dog was at every point. Record the warning or order that started your plan, every dog present, and each dog's location, crate, vehicle, caregiver or shelter. Note owner notifications and the vaccination, medication and veterinary records you moved. Log transport times and each handoff with the recipient, time, place and a signature or confirmation. Then note any unreturned dog with its last confirmed location, damage, flooding, power or phone loss, your calls to emergency management, animal control and shelters, receipts, and your reopening decision.

Ready.gov's business guidance recommends plans covering communications, recovery, training and continuity. Its pet disaster guide suggests keeping copies of registration information, identification, carriers, supplies and a photo of the person with the pet. NOLA Ready tells New Orleans residents to keep identification, emergency contacts, medical records, insurance policies and pet supplies ready to go. Solo? PSI recommends naming a backup person.

Save the number for your area in your phone before you need it.

New Orleans. NOLA Ready sends emergencies to 911 and non-emergency city requests to 311. Its freeze guidance directs emergency animal attacks to 911 and names New Orleans Humane Law & Rescue and the Louisiana SPCA as animal-response resources. The NOPD policy manual puts a known owner's name, address and date of birth in the incident report for an animal that injured someone, so have the owner's details ready. Call 311 to confirm the current bite-report route.

Baton Rouge. Report a human bite within 24 hours to the Animal Control and Rescue Center, police or sheriff, per the city's dog regulations; the dog is impounded and observed for 10 days. The Animal Control and Rescue Center is at 225-774-7700, with officers available 24/7 for emergencies.

Lafayette. The Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center takes animal complaints at 337-291-5644 during its posted hours, through the Lafayette 311 portal, or at lascc@lafayettela.gov, and asks for details and photos where possible. Call to confirm the bite-report route, deadline, confinement instructions and after-hours contact.

Shreveport. Reports of dangerous, nuisance and uncontrollable animals go to the Caddo Parish Department of Animal Services at 318-226-6624. Call that office to confirm how it wants bites and escapes reported.

Elsewhere, start with your parish health unit and your parish or city animal-control office.

The IRS says good records help you monitor your business, identify income and deductible expenses, prepare returns and support the entries on them. In most cases it doesn't require a special format, but your system must clearly show income and expenses, so vet invoices, replacement gear and storm receipts belong there. How long to keep incident files is a question for your attorney, accountant, insurer and the relevant government office.

Rules on licenses, home businesses, zoning, kennels and animal counts differ by city, parish and unincorporated area; the Louisiana Secretary of State asks for your city and parish when building a business-license checklist because some licenses depend on location. Ask your planning and zoning office, license office, animal control, fire marshal and parish health unit:

• Is this address approved for walking, sitting, grooming, daycare or boarding?
• Do I need a home-occupation permit, or a kennel or commercial-animal permit?
• Are there limits on animal counts, enclosures, noise, parking or setbacks?
• What inspections apply, and what records must be available during one?
• What is the bite-report route and deadline, and who takes an escape report or after-hours call?
• Do local dangerous-dog fees or registration rules add to the state's?

For boarding and daycare buildings, IBPSA points to NFPA 150 as a fire and life-safety reference for animal housing and notes that local adoption varies, so ask your fire marshal which standard applies.

These answers cover reporting a bite, legal consequences, the records that show what happened, veterinary releases and dangerous-dog status.

Yes. A bite to a person triggers rabies action under the LDH Rabies Sanitary Code, with the local health authority involved. Baton Rouge requires a report within 24 hours; elsewhere, call your parish health unit and animal control to confirm the route and deadline.

The dog faces at least 10 days of confinement or another action the rule allows, and a district attorney, sheriff or animal-control officer can petition a court to declare it dangerous or vicious. For questions about your own responsibility, talk with a Louisiana attorney and a licensed insurance professional.

A dated, neutral record made at the time, backed by unedited photos, video, timestamped messages, witness contacts and the official report number. Vet invoices, handoff confirmations and the officer's instructions complete it.

It helps, since PSI says a release should authorize emergency care. A vet's office may still require direct permission from the owner, so keep the owner's emergency contacts with the release.

No. Louisiana's definition requires specific conditions, such as an unprovoked bite causing injury or two qualifying incidents within 36 months, and a court determination is involved.

Today, set up a blank incident record with the fields above and save it where every staff member can open it from a phone. Add your animal-control office and parish health unit to your contacts, and check that every client file has a signed veterinary release and emergency contacts. If an incident has already happened, finish the record now while it's fresh, keep the report number with it, and follow the instructions the local office gave you.

• brla.gov: Animal Control and Rescue Center
• brla.gov: dog regulations
• ibpsa.com: IBPSA
• irs.gov: IRS
• lafayettela.gov: Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center
• ldh.la.gov: LDH Rabies Sanitary Code
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 14:102.13
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 14:102.14
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 14:102.15
• nola.gov: NOPD policy manual
• petsit.com: Pet Sitters International
• petsit.com: Pet Sitters International
• ready.gov: pet disaster guide
• ready.gov: Ready.gov's business guidance
• ready.nola.gov: freeze guidance
• ready.nola.gov: NOLA Ready
• ready.nola.gov: NOLA Ready
• shreveportla.gov: Caddo Parish Department of Animal Services
• sos.la.gov: Louisiana Secretary of State