The owner of a dog shall be liable to an injured party for all damages done by the dog,
when the dog is caught in the action of worrying, maiming, or killing a domestic animal, or
the dog is attacking or attempting to bite a person, except when the party damaged is doing
an unlawful act, directly contributing to the injury. This section does not apply to damage
done by a dog affected with hydrophobia unless the owner of the dog had reasonable grounds
to know that the dog was afflicted with hydrophobia and by reasonable effort might have
prevented the injury.
[C73, §1485; C97, §2340; S13, §2340; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §5450; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71,
73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §351.28]
83 Acts, ch 117, §1\n\nTue Dec 09 22:14:28 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 351 (28, 1)
§351.29, DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS 2
\n
Notes of Decisions
Le Mars Mut. Ins. Co. of Iowa v. Bonnecroy, 304 N.W.2d 422 (Iowa 1981).
· cites it 20× “The sole issue involved in this appeal is whether section 351.28, The Code 1977, establishes liability for a dog owner for damage caused by the nonmischievous, nonvi-cious acts of a dog.”
Fouts Ex Rel. Jensen v. Mason, 592 N.W.2d 33 (Iowa 1999).
· cites it 14× “We conclude the repeal narrowed the meaning of “owner” in the strict liability statute, Iowa Code § 351.28 . See Holding v. Franklin County Zoning Bd.”
Collier v. Zambito, 807 N.E.2d 254 (NY 2004).
· cites it 2× “04; Iowa Code Ann § 351.28; Mich Comp Laws Ann § 287.”
Collins v. Kenealy, 492 N.W.2d 679 (Iowa 1992).
· cites it 10× “The issue on this appeal is whether the delivery of a dog to a dog groomer relieves the legal owner of strict liability imposed by Iowa Code section 351.28 (1989). The district court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
Reed v. Harvey, 110 N.W.2d 442 (Iowa 1961).
· cites it 4× “She says that throughout the trial defendants and the court understood she was relying on section 351.28, Code, 1958. Defendants in effect conceded in both their printed and oral arguments it was obvious plaintiff was claiming under this statute.”
Zach v. Morningstar, 142 N.W.2d 440 (Iowa 1966).
· cites it 6× “This is an action at law brought under section 351.28, Code, 1962, on behalf of Ruth Ann Zach, a minor, by her father, and next friend, seeking damages as the result of injuries to her when attacked and bitten by a dog owned by defendant.”
Peters v. Lyons, 168 N.W.2d 759 (Iowa 1969).
· cites it 2× “Kresge also argues that indemnity isn’t available here because our dog statute, section 351.28, imposes absolute liability, which is a nondelegable duty.”
Steinkuehler v. Brotherson, 443 N.W.2d 698 (Iowa 1989).
· cites it 6× “Iowa Code § 351.28 (1985). Although defendants contend that this amendment was intended to insulate a dog owner from all liability for the acts of a dog other than those specified in the statute, we conclude that the intent of the amendment was only to relieve the dog owner from…”
Est. of Bruce v. B. C. D., Inc., 396 F. Supp. 157 (S.D. Iowa 1975).
· cites it 2× “The Court made the following comments to Kresge’s argument: Kresge also argues that indemnity isn’t available here because our dog statute, section 351.28, imposed absolute liability, which is a nondelegable duty.”
Hosfelt v. Lacey, 160 N.W.2d 519 (Iowa 1968).
· cites it 2× “Count I is based on statutory liability under Code section 351.28, Count II being premised upon common law negligence.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.