§ 55.01 Definitions

The following terms are defined for use in this chapter.

1. “Advertise” means to present a commercial message in any medium including but not limited to print, radio, television, sign, display, label, tag or articulation.

2. “Animal” means a nonhuman vertebrate.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717B.1)

3. “At large” defines the location of any animal that is not:

A. On its owner’s residential lot, tethered or within an enclosed or invisible fence; or

B. Under the control of its owner or a competent person by restraint with a leash; or

C. In temporary confinement either tethered or within an enclosed or invisible fence upon a residential lot with that property owner’s consent; or

D. Within a public or private kennel or veterinary hospital; or

E. Within a motor vehicle; or

F. Enclosed within a structure.

4. “Business” means any enterprise relating to any of the following:

A. The sale or offer for sale of goods or services.

B. A recruitment for employment or membership in an organization.

C. A solicitation to make an investment.

D. An amusement or entertainment activity.

5. “Fair” means any of the following:

A. The annual fair and exposition held by the Iowa State Fair Board pursuant to Chapter 173 of the Code of Iowa or any fair event conducted by a fair under the provisions of Chapter 174 of the Code of Iowa.

B. An exhibition of agricultural or manufactured products.

C. An event for operation of amusement rides or devices or concession booths.

6. “Game” means a “game of chance” or “game of skill” as defined in Section 99B.1 of the Code of Iowa.

7. “Leash” means a rope of any type or chain of any type that is not more than ten feet in length.

8. “Livestock” means an animal belonging to the bovine, caprine, equine, ovine or porcine species, ostriches, rheas and emus; farm deer as defined in Section 170.1 of the Code of Iowa; or poultry except for chickens that are members of the subspecies Gallus Gallus Domesticus that are being kept in compliance with a valid permit approved in Chapter 58.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717.1)

9. “Owner” means any person owning, keeping, sheltering or harboring an animal.

10. “Pet” means a living dog, cat, or an animal normally maintained in a small tank or cage in or near a residence, including but not limited to a rabbit, gerbil, hamster, mouse, parrot, canary, mynah, finch, tropical fish, goldfish, snake, turtle, gecko, or iguana.

The following terms are defined for use in this chapter.

1. “Advertise” means to present a commercial message in any medium, including (but not limited to) print, radio, television, sign, display, label, tag, or articulation.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717E.1(1))

2. “Animal” means a nonhuman vertebrate.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717B.1(1))

3. “Animal shelter” means a facility which is used to house or contain dogs or cats, or both, and which is owned, operated, or maintained by an incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of such animals.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 162.2(3))

4. “At large” means off the premises of the owner and not under the control of a competent person, restrained within a motor vehicle, or housed in a veterinary hospital or kennel.

5. “Business” means any enterprise relating to any of the following:

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717E.1(2))

A. The sale or offer for sale of goods or services.

B. A recruitment for employment or membership in an organization.

C. A solicitation to make an investment.

D. An amusement or entertainment activity.

6. “Commercial establishment” means an animal shelter, boarding kennel, commercial breeder, commercial kennel, dealer, pet shop, pound, public auction, or research facility.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717.B1(5))

7. “Community cat” means any free roaming cat that may be cared for by one or more residents of an immediate area who are known or unknown; a community cat may or may not be feral.

8. “Eartipping” means the removal of the one-quarter inch tip of the community cat’s left ear, performed while the cat is under anesthesia in compliance with any applicable federal or State law, and under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Eartipping is the universally accepted method to identify a sterilized and lawfully vaccinated feral or free-roaming cat.

9. “Fair” means any of the following:

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717E.1(3))

A. The annual fair and exposition held by the Iowa State Fair Board pursuant to Chapter 173 of the Code of Iowa or any fair event conducted by a fair under the provisions of Chapter 174 of the Code of Iowa.

B. An exhibition of agricultural or manufactured products.

C. An event for operation of amusement rides or devices or concession booths.

10. “Game” means a “game of chance” or “game of skill” as defined in Section 99B.1 of the Code of Iowa.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717E.1(4))

11. “Injury” means an animal’s disfigurement; the impairment of an animal’s health; or an impairment to the functioning of an animal’s limb or organ, or the loss of an animal’s limb or organ.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717.B1(10))

12. “Livestock” means an animal belonging to the bovine, caprine, equine, ovine or porcine species, ostriches, rheas, and emus; farm deer (as defined in Section 170.1 of the Code of Iowa); or poultry except for chickens that are members of the subspecies Gallus Gallus Domesticus that are being kept in compliance with a valid permit approved in Chapter 58.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717.1(4))

13. “Owner” means any person owning, keeping, sheltering, or harboring an animal. This shall not include Community Cat caregiver.

14. “Pet” means a living dog, cat, or an animal normally maintained in a small tank or cage in or near a residence, including but not limited to a rabbit, gerbil, hamster, mouse, parrot, canary, mynah, finch, tropical fish, goldfish, snake, turtle, gecko, or iguana.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717E.1(5))

15. “Pound” means a facility for the prevention of cruelty to animals operated by the State, a municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State for the purpose of impounding or harboring seized stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats, or other animals; or a facility operated for such a purpose under a contract with any municipal corporation or incorporated society.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 162.2(20))

16. “Research facility” means any school or college of medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, or osteopathic medicine, or hospital, diagnostic or research laboratories, or other educational or scientific establishment situated in the State concerned with the investigation of, or instruction concerning the structure or function of living organisms, the cause, prevention, control, or cure of diseases or abnormal conditions of human beings or animals.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 162.2(24))

17. “Trap-neuter-return” (TNR) means the non-lethal process of humanely trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating, eartipping, and returning community cats to their original location.

18. “Veterinarian” means a veterinarian licensed pursuant to Chapter 169 of the Code of Iowa who practices veterinary medicine in the State.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 717.B1(17))