Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 351.37 (2026)

Dogs running at large — impoundment — disposition

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. A dog shall be apprehended and impounded by a local board of health or law enforcement official if the dog is running at large and the dog is not wearing a valid rabies vaccination tag or a rabies vaccination certificate is not presented to the local board of health or law enforcement official.

2. The local board of health or law enforcement official shall provide written notice to the owner if the local board of health or law enforcement official can reasonably determine the owner’s name and current address by accessing a tag or other device that is on or a part of the dog. The notice shall be sent within two days after the dog has been impounded. The notice shall provide that if the owner does not redeem the dog within seven days from the date that the notice is delivered, the dog may be humanely destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance with law. For purposes of this section, notice is delivered when the local board of health or law enforcement official mails the notice which may be by regular mail. An owner may redeem a dog by having it immediately vaccinated and paying the cost of impoundment.

3. If the owner of the impounded dog fails to redeem the dog within seven days from the date of the delivery of the notice to the dog’s owner as provided in this section, the dog\n\nTue Dec 09 22:14:28 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 351 (28, 1) 3 DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS, §351.42\n\nmay be disposed of in accordance with law. If the dog is destroyed, it must be destroyed by euthanasia as defined in section 162.2. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §351.37] 2002 Acts, ch 1130, §1; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §76 Referred to in §351.36, 351.42, 351.43 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case (1 in the last 5 years), 2022–2022 · leading case: Chafa v. Greenfield (Iowa Ct. App. 2022).

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Chafa v. Greenfield (Iowa Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 351.37 (2)-(3). Chafa claimed the city’s “employees, included [sic] but not limited to peace officers, have encountered this dog before, and failed to kill the animal as required by statute.”

— Iowa Code § 351.37(1) — 1 case

Chafa v. Greenfield (Iowa Ct. App. 2022). “” Iowa Code § 351.37 (2)-(3). Chafa claimed the city’s “employees, included [sic] but not limited to peace officers, have encountered this dog before, and failed to kill the animal as required by statute.”

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