HF 474 (LSB 2287YH (8) 88)

HOUSE FILE 474

BY  GASKILL

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to animals, including dogs, that are subject to certain health and safety regulations, including by providing for rabies control, and the confiscation, impoundment, and disposition of such animals, providing a criminal penalty, and making penalties applicable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  351.1  Definitions.
   As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
   1.  “Department” means the department of agriculture and land stewardship.
   2.  “DNA” means deoxyribonucleic acid.
   3.  “Local board of health” means the same as defined in section 137.102.
   4.  “Police service dog” means a dog specially trained to assist a peace officer as defined in section 801.4 or a correctional officer in the performance of the officer’s duties.
   5.  “Qualified laboratory” means a laboratory accredited by the American association of veterinary laboratory diagnosticians, the national veterinary services laboratories located in Ames, Iowa, or a diagnostic laboratory recognized by the department.
   6.  “Veterinarian” means a person who is licensed to practice veterinary medicine in this state under chapter 169.
    Sec. 2.  Section 351.25, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.25  Dog as property.
   All dogs under A dog shall be deemed property only if the dog is any of the following:
   1.  Less than six months of age, and all dogs over said age and wearing a collar with a valid rabies vaccination tag attached to the collar, shall be deemed property. Dogs not provided with a rabies vaccination tag shall not be deemed property.
   2.  Owned by a person as evidenced by proof of identification which shall be limited to any of the following:
   a.  A rabies prevention credential as provided in section 351.35.
   b.  A tattoo imprinted on the dog’s skin that may be visually observed.
   c.  A device implanted under the dog’s skin that stores information in an electronic format accessible by a computer.
   d.  A DNA profile that describes the dog’s unique genetic identity when an analysis is performed comparing a DNA sample with a record stored in a recognized database.
    Sec. 3.  Section 351.26, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.26  Right and duty to kill untagged dog.
   1.  It shall be lawful for any person, and the duty of all peace officers within their respective jurisdictions, unless such jurisdiction shall have otherwise provided for the seizure confiscation and impoundment of dogs, to kill any a dog for which a rabies vaccination tag is required, when the dog is not wearing a collar with rabies vaccination tag attached if any of the following apply:
   a.  The dog is pursuing, threatening, attempting to injure, or injuring an individual.
   b.  The dog is pursuing, injuring, or killing a domestic animal or domestic fowl not owned by the owner of the dog.
   2.  This subsection does not apply to any of the following:
   a.  A police service dog while the police service dog is on duty or performing an official function.
   b.  A dog taking an action to protect the property, life, or safety of the dog’s owner or an immediate family member of the owner.
   c.  A dog engaged in performing a task for which the dog has been trained or is being trained, so long as the task is otherwise lawful.
    Sec. 4.  Section 351.33, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.33  Rabies vaccination prevention —— prohibition.
   1.  Every owner of a dog shall obtain a rabies vaccination for such animal. It shall be unlawful for any A person to shall not own or have possess a dog in the person’s possession, six months of age or over older, which has not been vaccinated against unless the person obtains rabies vaccination credentials for the dog pursuant to section 351.35. Dogs
   2.  Subsection 1 does not apply to a dog kept in kennels and a kennel if such dog is not allowed to run at large shall not be subject to these vaccination requirements.
    Sec. 5.  Section 351.35, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.35  How and when Rabies prevention —— requirements and credentials.
   1.  The A rabies vaccination required by section 351.33, including an initial vaccination and any revaccination, shall be an injection of antirabies vaccine approved by the state department of agriculture and land stewardship, and the. The frequency of administering a revaccination necessary for approved vaccinations shall be as established by such the department. The vaccine shall be administered by a licensed veterinarian and shall be given as administered in a manner approved by the state department of agriculture and land stewardship. The Upon administering the vaccination, the veterinarian shall issue a tag with the following rabies prevention credentials to the dog’s owner: 
   a.  A rabies vaccination certificate of vaccination, and such.
   b.  A rabies vaccination tag. The tag shall at all times be attached to the a collar of which shall be worn by the dog.
   2.  A veterinarian may determine that a dog does not require a vaccination based on an evaluation of a report prepared by a qualified laboratory that performed a rabies antibody titer test using a sample of the dog’s blood serum. If the veterinarian makes such determination, the veterinarian shall issue the following rabies prevention credentials to the dog’s owner:
   a.  A rabies antibody titer test certificate.
   b.  A rabies antibody titer test tag. The tag shall at all times be attached to a collar which shall be worn by the dog.
    Sec. 6.  Section 351.36, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.36  Enforcement.
   Local A local board of health and law enforcement officials offical shall enforce the provisions of sections 351.33, 351.35, this section, and sections 351.37 through 351.43 relating to vaccination and impoundment of dogs a dog. Such public officials The official shall not be responsible for any accident or disease of a dog resulting from the enforcement of the provisions any provision of said those sections.
    Sec. 7.  Section 351.37, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.37  Dogs running at large —— impoundment —— disposition confiscation, impoundment, and disposition.
   1.  A dog shall be apprehended confiscated 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 the dog is not immediately identifiable as property of an owner pursuant to section 351.25.
   2.  a.  The local board of health or law enforcement official shall provide written notice to the dog’s 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 to the dog’s owner within two days after the dog has been impounded. The notice shall provide that if the owner or the owner’s agent 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 subject to disposition as provided in subsection 4.
   b.  For purposes of this section paragraph “a”, a notice is delivered when the local board of health or law enforcement official mails the notice which may be by regular mail.
   3.  a.  An owner may redeem a an impounded dog by having it immediately vaccinated and paying the cost of impoundment.
   b.  If an owner cannot furnish rabies prevention credentials, the owner must immediately obtain such credentials to furnish to the local board of health or law enforcement official.
   3.  4.  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 may be disposed of in accordance with law. If the dog is destroyed, it must be destroyed by euthanasia as defined in section 162.2 is subject to disposition by any of the following methods:
   a.  Transfer to another person, including by sale or adoption to a person or by relinquishing the dog to an animal shelter as provided in section 162.20.  All property rights held by the person who owned the dog prior to impoundment shall be extinguished. If the dog is not to be destroyed, the local board of health or law enforcement official shall obtain a rabies prevention credential for the dog as provided in section 351.35. However, in lieu of obtaining a rabies prevention credential for the dog, the local board of health may require a person to whom the dog is being transferred to obtain the rabies prevention credential.
   b.  The humane destruction of the dog by euthanasia as defined in section 162.2.
    Sec. 8.  Section 351.38, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.38  Owner’s duty.
   It shall be the duty of the owner of any dog, cat or other animal which has bitten or attacked a person or any person having knowledge of such bite or attack to report this act to a local board of health or law enforcement official. It shall be the duty of physicians and veterinarians to report to the local board of health the existence of any animal known or suspected to be suffering from rabies.
    Sec. 9.  Section 351.39, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   351.39  Confinement, confiscation, and impoundment.
   1.  If a local board of health receives information that an animal has bitten a person or that a dog or an animal is suspected of having rabies, the local board of health shall order the animal’s owner to confine such animal in the manner it directs. If the owner fails to confine such animal in the manner directed, the animal shall be apprehended confiscated and impounded by such the local board of health, and after ten days the local board of health may humanely destroy the animal by euthanasia as defined in section 162.2 only if it is determined that the animal has been infected with the rabies virus.  The owner of a dog or the agency of the dog’s owner may redeem the dog in the same manner provided in section 351.37, if it is determined that the dog does not present a threat due to a rabies virus infection. If such an animal is returned to its owner, the owner shall pay the cost of impoundment. This section
   2.  Subsection 1 shall not apply if to an animal, a police service dog or a horse used by a law enforcement agency and, if the animal is acting in the performance of its duties has bitten a person.
    Sec. 10.  NEW SECTION.  351.45  Confiscation —— court order.
   1.  A local board of health or law enforcement official shall not confiscate a dog under this chapter without obtaining a court order. The court shall determine if a dog should be impounded and placed in the custody of the local board of health or law enforcement official. The dog’s disposition shall be determined by court order after a hearing to determine the dog’s ownership. The hearing may be held as part of a dispositional proceeding conducted pursuant to section 717B.4.
   2.  If a dog is ordered to be impounded under subsection 1, all of the following apply:
   a.  The dog shall not be placed in the custody of a private party.
   b.  The dog shall not be sterilized, including by the use of any procedure described in section 162.20.
   c.  The dog shall be provided with a standard of care that takes into account the breed, age, and health condition of the dog. The dog must be provided with a standard of care that at least meets the requirements of section 162.10A.
   3.  This section shall not apply to a dog that is not property as provided in section 351.25.
    Sec. 11.  NEW SECTION.  351.46  Filing a false report —— criminal penalty.
   1.  A person commits the offense of filing a false report by providing incorrect or incomplete information to a local board of health or law enforcement official, knowing that the information is incorrect or incomplete and that the result of providing such information will likely result in the confiscation of a dog that is property under this chapter.
   2.  A person who commits the offense of filing a false report is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. A person convicted of the offense is subject to paying for costs associated with impounding the dog. A county or city that has the duty to prosecute the offense may recover costs of the prosecution from a defendant who has been convicted of the offense.
    Sec. 12.  REPEAL.  Section 351.27, Code 2019, is repealed.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   GENERAL. This bill amends provisions in Code chapter 351 which provide for the prevention of rabies in dogs by a licensed veterinarian (veterinarian) and the confiscation, impoundment, and disposition of certain animals, including dogs, by a local board of health or law enforcement official (local authority) in part according to rules adopted by the department of agriculture and land stewardship (department).
   DOGS AS PROPERTY. The bill provides that a dog is considered property according to several forms of proof of ownership, including a rabies prevention credential as described in the bill, a tattoo on the dog’s skin, a device implanted under the dog’s skin, or a DNA profile on record. Under current law, the dog’s status as property is determined by its age and whether it is wearing a collar attached with a rabies vaccination tag (Code section 351.25).
   RIGHT TO KILL DOG. The bill provides that a person may kill a dog regardless of whether it is wearing a collar with an attached rabies tag, if the dog is endangering an individual or domestic animal or fowl. The provision does not apply to a police service dog; a dog protecting the property, life, or safety of the dog’s owner or immediate family; or the dog is engaged in or being trained to be engaged in performing a lawful task. Under current law, a person has a right to kill a dog not wearing such collar (Code section 351.26); or a dog wearing the collar if it is harassing a domestic animal or fowl or attacking or attempting to bite a person (Code section 351.27).
   RABIES PREVENTION. The bill requires the owner of a dog to obtain evidence (credentials) that the dog is prevented from contracting the rabies virus. This includes a rabies vaccination certificate and rabies vaccination tag to be worn on the dog’s collar. Otherwise, the credentials are a rabies antibody titer test certificate and a rabies antibody titer test tag that also must be worn on the dog’s collar. Under current law, a dog that is over six months old must be vaccinated and revaccinated according to rules adopted by the department (Code sections 351.33 and 351.35).
   CONFISCATION, IMPOUNDMENT, AND DISPOSITION. The bill provides that a dog’s owner may redeem a dog confiscated and impounded by a local authority if the owner furnishes rabies prevention credentials. The local authority must arrange for the disposition of an unredeemed dog by sale, transfer, or relinquishment of title to an animal shelter. If an animal has been confiscated based on a suspected rabies infection, the local authority must test the animal. An uninfected dog must be returned its owner. Under current law, a local authority must confiscate a dog and either return it to its owner or humanely destroy it after 10 days (Code section 351.39).
   COURT ORDER. The bill prohibits a local authority from confiscating, impounding, or disposing of a dog that is considered property without obtaining a court order. The dog cannot be placed in the custody of a private person, cannot be sterilized, and must be provided with an adequate standard of care. 
   CRIMINAL OFFENSE —— FALSE REPORT. The bill creates a new criminal offense referred to as “false report” which is committed by a person providing incorrect or incomplete information to a local board of health or law enforcement official, knowing that the information will likely result in the confiscation of a dog that is property. A person who commits the offense is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. The person may also be ordered to pay for costs associated with the prosecution.
   APPLICABLE CRIMINAL PENALTY. A person who is in violation of a provision in the Code chapter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor (Code section 351.43). A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days or a fine of at least $65 but not more than $625 or by both.