1. A livestock owner shall be liable to the following persons:

 a. To a landowner for damages caused by the livestock owner‘s livestock which have trespassed on the landowner’s land, including but not limited to property damage and costs incurred by the landowner’s custody of the livestock including maintenance costs. A livestock owner’s liability is not affected by the failure of a landowner to take custody of the livestock. A livestock owner shall not be liable for damages incurred by a landowner if the livestock trespassed through a fence that was not maintained by the landowner as required pursuant to chapter 359A.
 b. To a landowner who takes custody of livestock on a public road as provided in section 169C.2 for costs incurred by the landowner in taking custody of the livestock, including maintenance costs.
 c. To a local authority which takes custody of livestock for costs incurred by the local authority in taking custody of the livestock, including maintenance costs.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 169C.4

  • Aggrieved party: means a landowner or a local authority. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • fence: includes a fence bordering a public road. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Landowner: means a person who holds an interest in land, including a titleholder or tenant. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • Livestock: means an animal belonging to the bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or porcine species; ostriches, rheas, or emus; farm deer as defined in section 170. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • Livestock owner: means the person who holds title to livestock or who is primarily responsible for the care and feeding of the livestock as provided by the titleholder. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • Local authority: means a city as defined in section 362. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • Maintenance: means the provision of shelter, food, water, or a nutritional formulation as required pursuant to chapter 717. See Iowa Code 169C.1
  • 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
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Public road: means a thoroughfare and its right-of-way, whether reserved by public ownership or easement, for use by the traveling public. See Iowa Code 169C.1
 2. An aggrieved party who fails to provide timely notice of a livestock’s trespass or custody as required by section 169C.3 shall not be entitled to compensation for damages for the period of time during which the aggrieved party fails to provide timely notice.
 3. A landowner is not liable for an injury or death suffered by the livestock in the landowner’s custody, unless the landowner caused the injury or death. The landowner is not liable for livestock that strays from the landowner’s land. An aggrieved party is not liable for livestock that strays from the control of the aggrieved party.
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