HF2157 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the abandonment of cats and dogs including delivery to an animal shelter or pound, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2521 .)

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: BARKER
Last action: 2026-03-02
Official status: Withdrawn. H.J. 484 .
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to the abandonment of cats and dogs including delivery to an animal shelter or pound, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2521 .)

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to the abandonment of cats and dogs including delivery to an animal shelter or pound, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2521 .)

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-02 Iowa Legislature
Withdrawn. H.J. 484 .
2026-02-10 Iowa Legislature
Committee vote: Yeas, 21. Nays, 0. H.J. 267 .
2026-02-10 Iowa Legislature
Committee report, recommending passage. H.J. 267 .
2026-02-05 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee recommends passage.
2026-02-05 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee Meeting: 02/05/2026 8:30AM House Lounge 2.
2026-02-03 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee: Watkins, Henderson and Nielsen. H.J. 196 .
2026-01-26 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Local Government. H.J. 151 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the abandonment of cats and dogs including delivery to an animal shelter or pound, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2521 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

2157

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2157

BY

BARKER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

abandonment

of

cats

and

dogs

including

1

delivery

to

an

animal

shelter

or

pound,

and

making

penalties

2

applicable.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

6006YH

(2)

91

as/js

H.F.

2157

Section

1.

Section

717B.8,

subsection

2,

paragraph

b,

Code

1

2026,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

b.

The

delivery

of

a

cat

or

dog

to

an

animal

shelter

or

3

pound

as

defined

in

section

162.2

that

has

been

issued

or

4

renewed

a

valid

authorization

by

the

department

under

chapter

5

162

.

Delivery

under

this

paragraph

requires

an

employee

or

6

volunteer

of

the

animal

shelter

or

pound

to

physically

accept

7

the

delivery

of

the

animal.

8

EXPLANATION

9

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

10

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

11

This

bill

relates

to

the

abandonment

of

cats

and

dogs

12

including

delivery

to

an

animal

shelter

or

pound.

13

The

bill

provides

that

in

order

for

the

delivery

of

a

cat

14

or

dog

to

an

animal

shelter

or

pound

to

be

an

exception

to

15

abandonment

of

the

cat

or

dog,

an

employee

or

volunteer

of

the

16

animal

shelter

or

pound

must

physically

accept

the

delivery

of

17

the

animal.

18

A

person

committing

animal

abandonment

faces

criminal

19

charges

ranging

from

a

simple

misdemeanor

to

an

aggravated

20

misdemeanor

depending

on

the

status

of

the

animal.

21

-1-

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6006YH

(2)

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1/

1