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Animal Services
Fur-babies Deserve Fur-ever Homes!!
All animals in the care of Bossier City Animal Services (BCAS) will be appropriately housed, fed, watered and cared for, provided veterinary care as appropriate, given the best chance for reunification or adoption; and if necessary, humanely euthanized according to guidelines set forth by the Louisiana Board of Veterinary Medicine.
In order to satisfy Bossier City Ordinance Sec. 14-104 - Records: All transactions with BCAS will require a valid ID to be presented. Whether an animal is being left with us as a stray or owner surrender, an animal is being adopted, or you are involved in an animal incident or providing a witness statement, you will be expected to provide a legal, valid Identification upon request.
All animals without a microchip will be microchipped upon leaving BCAS with a previous owner or new adopter, in order to improve reunification of animals with their family in our city. The owner of any animal being reclaimed will be responsible for the cost of the microchip. The adoption fee includes the microchip. Rescues may request the animal receive a microchip at a reduced fee.
Need to rehome your pet?
We know times are tough, and want to help! Please contact us if you just need help with food or something else to keep your pet. 318-741-8499
Being over capacity means we often don't have kennels for healthy strays or owner surrender animals. If you are looking to rehome your animal, please use the direct link to the right. This will allow you to quickly and easily create a listing, and credits Bossier City Animal Services with the referral.
The Animal Services Unit of your Public Works Department:
- Operates an animal shelter and adoption program, to protect and find homes for unwanted companion animals.
- Enforces ordinances, such as leash law, cruelty and neglect, laws governing vaccinations and general companion animal welfare.
- Educates the public, to make citizens aware of animal welfare problems, and ways to solve them.
Protection
Animal Services Officers protect:
- People and property from the dangers and nuisance of roaming, uncontrolled animals.
- Loose pets and unwanted companion animals from the dangers they face in the wild and on city streets.
Animal services professionals are required to know how to handle animals - and how to work with people.
Department Actions
Some of the actions that Animal Services perform include:
- Pet Adoptions: Animal Services houses homeless and unwanted animals at 3217 Old Shed Rd, Bossier City, LA 71111. After a 3 day stray hold animals are evaluated and those that are socialized and ready for homes are put up for adoption. Come visit with our adoptable animals today!
- Adoptable animals can also be found on Petfinder and Adopt-a-pet.com.
- You can fill out an adoption application 24 hours a day. Also on Petfinder and Adopt-a-pet.com.
- Additionally, Animal Services has Working Cats (spayed, neutered, vaccinated and ear tipped cats placed in any area with people that agree to care for them with supplemental food and annual vaccinations, specifically for the purpose of pest prevention) available for placement. Contact the shelter at (318) 741-8499 for additional information.
- Stray Holding: Bossier City, and sometime Parish, strays are held at the shelter for 72 hours (not counting weekends and holidays) for the purpose of reunification with their families. PLEASE COME VIEW OUR STRAY ANIMALS if your animal goes missing! ACOs and shelter staff scan all animals for microchips. However, nothing ensures that your animal isn't being held like you coming to view all strays directly.
- Cruelty Investigations: Animal Services personnel enforce laws governing humane treatment of animals. If necessary, they may remove animals from unsafe or unhealthy conditions and begin legal action against negligent owners.
- Complaint Investigations: Animal Services personnel may look into complaints of noisy, destructive or threatening animals. If necessary, proper legal action may be taken including citations, fines and impoundment.
- Animal Rescue: Animal Services personnel use their special knowledge and equipment to help find and rescue lost or trapped animals.
- Animal "Ambulance": Animal Services personnel may transport injured animals, as appropriate, safely and humanely to the shelter or to health care facilities when found on city streets or when removed from a neglect or cruelty situation.
- Animal Quarantine: Animals that bite humans are located and quarantined to make certain they are not carrying any disease.
Adoption Hours:
Monday - Saturday
10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
New SUNDAY adoption hours: 2nd Sunday of every month
Watch Facebook for adoption events and special Sunday adoption hours!
Adoption applications can be filled out online in advance.
Adoptable animals can be viewed on Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet.com.
Adoption fees waived on approved applications for:
Adult animals in BCAS care for more than 30 days
Heartworm and FIV/FeLV positive
All approved adoptions include:
Vaccinations appropriate for the age of your pet on the day of adoption
Medical check and care as appropriate, including deworming and heartworm testing and prevention (heartworm positive dogs will need treatment to get rid of current infestations)
Basic Spay/Neuter (in rare cases complicated surgeries may include a voucher to redeem with the veterinarian of your choice, you would be responsible for any additional costs)
1yr rabies vaccination (may be given at the time of spay/neuter or as a voucher to redeem with your personal veterinarian)
Animal name tag
Microchip
The love and devotion of your new fur-baby!
Adoption Fees
Cats & Kittens
Kittens under four months of age: $70
Cats over four months of age: $70
Dogs & Puppies
Puppies under four months of age: $80
Dogs over four months of age: $80
Purebred & Exotic Animals: $100
For animals found in Bossier City: please call the shelter at (318) 741-8499 prior to bringing the animal to the building, due to the high volume of animals being surrendered. We often do NOT have any kennel space available and need to create space prior to bringing in new animals.
For animals found in Bossier Parish: call (318) 965-9557 to contact the Bossier Parish Animal Control.
Every effort will be made to reunite owners and animals given the information available to BCAS.
All animals brought to BCAS will be given DAPPV or DHLPP and Bordetella vaccinations and wormer upon arrival for the health of all animals in BCAS's care. BCAS will additionally seek any necessary veterinary care needed. Upon reunification, owners will be responsible for these costs in addition to redemption, boarding and ticket fees that may apply. Veterinary costs will be variable and determined by the care needed and provided by the veterinarian.
Identification
Upon arrival the animal will be checked for identification by the following:
Micro Chip
Name tag
Rabies tag
Tattoo
If the animal has any type of identification, Animal Services will make every reasonable effort to notify the owner. Please ensure that your contact information is current with any of identification methods provided to your animal.
If you or someone you know can foster and hold a found animal: Contact our intake coordinator at (318) 741-8499 and tell us that you would like to foster an animal. You can foster animals that are currently being held in the shelter, or an animal that you find in the community. Fostering is best for the animal and leaves kennel space available for an in-need animal to come in.
We provide vaccinations and general care as needed for fosters, including food, treats and a kennel if needed. We ask that after the three day stray hold period, the animal be brought in regularly for viewing and visiting (on weekends at least), and made available for visits when requested. All fosters are either on a stray hold, or the property of Bossier City and any adoptions or change of location of the animal must be approved and processed by Bossier City Animal Services.
Stray or Feral Cats: Bossier City Animal Services recognizes that stray and feral cats can be distressing and a nuisance to some citizens. Cats allowed outside are supposed to be spayed or neutered (fixed). There are feral colonies around the city, and those cats also need to be fixed so they don't reproduce. You can tell if a colony cat is spayed or neutered if the distal one-quarter of the left ear is missing. This is the universal sign of a fixed community cat.
Not all community cats are feral (unsocialized and not friendly with humans), but many are. A feral cat is not aggressive and is not a danger to humans unless the cat feels in danger.
Animal Services would like to work with citizens to resolve issues involving loose, stray and feral cats without removing them from the people that do want them there. Please contact us at (318) 741-8499 and speak with our specialists about how to best handle feral colonies in your area, or unwanted cats on your property.
Per Alleycat.org:
For more than a century, the American shelter and animal control system has been relying on catching and killing outdoor cats to control their population. This approach continues to fail, and the number of outdoor cats increases despite the fact that millions of vibrant, healthy outdoor cats are killed each year. Taxpayer money that funds shelters and animal control agencies is wasted on an endless cycle of trapping and killing. Increasingly, the public believes that the money spent on killing could and should be re-allocated to programs that help animals.
With catch and kill policies, vaccinated and neutered cats are removed from an area. But that only creates a vacuum in the environment, where new cats move in to take advantage of available resources. The new cats breed and the cat population grows. Catch and kill policies aren’t just cruel and ineffective, they go against what the public really wants: humane approaches to cats.
Learn more at: Alleycat.org
Picking Up Your Lost Pet
The owner shall be entitled to resume possession of animal collected by Animal Services upon payment of all required fees (contact BCAS to verify fees) made within 72 hours of confinement, exclusive of weekends and holidays, provided the animal is not on the 3rd offense. BCAS is NOT a boarding facility; therefore, if the animal is not picked up within 72 hours, regardless of contact with BCAS, the animal may be dispositioned at the discretion of BCAS.
NOTE: The owner of any animal which has been impounded for the third time, shall surrender the animal to the BCAS. The owner may have the option of spaying or neutering the animal, in lieu of surrendering the animal to the animal control unit. If the animal is impounded for a fourth time, the animal will be surrendered to the BCAS. Once the animal has been surrendered, the owner can request a period of ten days to file an appeal. The animal will remain impounded, at the owner's expense ($10/day for boarding) at BCAS, until such time as the Bossier City Council hears and decides the appeal of the owner.
Abandoned animals may not be redeemed unless approved by the BCAS Superintendent or the Public Works Director.
Redemption and Boarding Fees for Dogs and Cats
Boarding Fee, per day: $10.00
Microchip: $15.00
Shots (DAPPV, DLHPP, Bordetella) and worming: $20.00
Transportation Fee: $25.00
Redemption Fee: Vaccinated, wearing current tag
Altered: $25.00
Unaltered: $50.00
Redemption Fee: Vaccinated, not wearing current tag
Altered: $30.00
Unaltered: $60.00
Redemption Fee: Unvaccinated
Altered: $35.00
Unaltered: $70.00
Vaccination fee, given back in the form of voucher: $20.00
Plus: Following fees added to above fees for additional impounds occurring within 365 days of the first impoundment for dogs and cats
Second Impoundment:
Altered: $50.00
Unaltered: $75.00
3rd Impoundment:
Altered: $100.00
Unaltered: $150.00
Rabies Vaccinations:
Unvaccinated animals must be vaccinated within three working days of the redemption date and the veterinarian must notify BCAS of adherence. Animal Services may collect the animal for an additional holding period if this is not met. For an animal to be redeemed again, fees will be paid and the animal will be transported to the veterinarian by Animal Services for shots before being released.
Losing a pet can be distressing, but don't lose heart. Stay calm and follow the steps listed to help you find your animal.
Conduct a Search
Talk to your neighbors, especially the children who play in the neighborhood. Go door to door. Leave your name, address and telephone number plus a complete description of your animal. Search in the evenings when it's quiet. Call or whistle. If your pet is injured or frightened, he may be hiding. Drive slowly around your neighborhood; sometimes a dog will recognize the sound of your car. Do keep in mind that cats sometimes climb into cars, and are transported miles away before jumping out.
Visit Shelters and Social Media
Visit Bossier City Animal Services on 3217 Old Shed Road. You must go in person, because only you can identify your pet. Look through all of the cages, and ask to see any injured or sick animals. Be sure to go every day. The Shelter holds stray animals for 72 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. After that, they may become available for adoption. Leave a written report at Animal Services. Also email a report with good pictures showing a front view and any distinguishing marks to animalservices@bossiercity.org with the animal's name, age, sex, when it was lost, where it was lost &/or was last seen.
Keep checking. Your pet may not be found for several weeks. DON'T WAIT TO CHECK THE SHELTER!! Even if you can't afford fines and fees, BCAS often has ways to work with you to reunite you with your beloved pet. Reunification is the ultimate goal!
Check Facebook and other social media! Lots of people that find animals try to post them in local community pages and regional pages in an effort to reunite the animal with the owner before taking it to a shelter.
Visit all the private shelters in Bossier City and neighboring communities. You can get a list of these shelters from Animal Services. Many people know about 1 animal shelter, but not others. Sometimes they end up where you don't expect them.
Post on Social Media
Post on Facebook and other social media that you are searching for your pet. Include a good, front view picture and where the animal was lost. Don't post about unusual markings, so you can use these to help identify your pet if someone contacts you. Don't just use your Facebook page. Share the post in community pages (for Bossier City: 318 Animal Community, Shreveport/Bossier Animal Related posts, Animal Networking Shreveport Caddo Bossier Surrounding area, Louisiana's SBC Pets - Adoptions, Rehoming, Lost & Found, etc) and ask others to share it too. Remember to make the post 'PUBLIC' so others can share. Many shelters keep an eye on those pages as well.
Post Signs
Make a poster to alert people to be on the lookout for your lost pet. Place copies of the poster within a 20 block radius of where the animal was lost &/or last seen. Put them up on local community bulletin boards, in grocery stores, at shelters, send to rescues, etc.
A black & white photo will reproduce better than color BUT you MUST include a color description if the picture is black & white. If you don't have a photo, try to get a picture from a breed book or website to give people a rough idea of what your animal looks like.
If your pet is an unusual breed, or is a mutt, you should write the breed the animal looks like most (e.g., looks like Lab-type dog, looks like short hair Siamese). Never write "mutt" or "mongrel" for a dog. Ordinary cats can be described best as "domestic short hair," "domestic long hair," etc. Only the main colors of the animal should be included. Don't try to be too descriptive; you want anyone who thinks they may have seen your pet to call.
Fill in your name and phone number on each of the small tabs at the bottom of the poster. Use a cell and a work number, or list hours that you will be home for the caller to reach you. Cut the tabs on the dotted lines for easy removal for those that have seen your pet.
Please observe all laws regarding the legal posting of flyers as per the Bossier City Code of Ordinances.
If Someone Calls You About Your Pet
Try to get a positive identification on your animal from the caller. Have specific details in mind (a scar or unusual feature) that will identify your animal from a similar one. Do not put all details on your poster. There are extortionists who will claim to have your pet. Think of a special question that only someone with your pet will be able to answer. If you offer a reward, make sure you have your animal back before you turn over the money. Follow safe practices when meeting someone to reclaim your pet.