1. Whenever any animal is left with a veterinarian, boarding kennel or commercial kennel pursuant to a written agreement and the owner does not claim the animal by the agreed date, the animal shall be deemed abandoned, and a notice of abandonment and its consequences shall be sent within seven days by certified mail to the last known address of the owner. For fourteen days after mailing of the notice the owner shall have the right to reclaim the animal upon payment of all reasonable charges, and after the fourteen days the owner shall be deemed to have waived all rights to the abandoned animal. If despite diligent effort an owner cannot be found for the abandoned animal within another seven days, the veterinarian, boarding kennel, or commercial kennel may humanely destroy the abandoned animal.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 162.19

  • Boarding kennel: means a place or establishment other than a pound or animal shelter where dogs or cats not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in return for a consideration. See Iowa Code 162.2
  • Commercial kennel: means a kennel which performs grooming, boarding, or training services for dogs or cats in return for a consideration. See Iowa Code 162.2
  • Owner: shall mean the person holding record title to real estate to include both legal and equitable interests under recorded real estate contracts. See Iowa Code 172D.1
  • Payment: means the actual payment or tender of payment by a grain dealer to a seller of the agreed purchase price, or in the case of disputes as to sales of grain, the undisputed portion of the purchase price without reduction for any separate claim of the grain dealer against the seller. See Iowa Code 203.8
 2. Each veterinarian, boarding kennel or commercial kennel shall warn its patrons of the provisions of this section by a conspicuously posted notice or by conspicuous type in a written receipt.
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