The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is proposing changes in administrative rules that will elevate the standard of care for companion animals in Iowa.

“As part of my first term, we’ve been performing an internal review of the department’s structure and regulatory rules,” says Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig. “We established three core principals to guide our review process, including protecting the health and welfare of all animals in Iowa, maintaining the transparency of inspections and regulatory reviews, and supporting continuing education and training for state inspectors and animal caregivers.”

Proposed changes submitted for review

These changes will affect all licensed commercial breeders; animal shelters; animal dealers, including rescues; commercial and boarding kennels, including doggy daycares; groomers and trainers; and in-house facilities in the state. The Iowa Department of Ag’s proposed changes include:

IDALS submitted its proposed changes to Iowa Administrative Rules Chapter 67 to the state on Sept. 20, beginning the official process for reviewing administrative rules. The public can view the proposed rule changes at rules.iowa.gov beginning Oct. 9 and provide comments until Oct. 29, Naig says. If approved, the proposed administrative rule changes will go into effect on Jan. 8.

Protect health, welfare of animals

The state ag department’s review process revealed the need to divide the assistant state veterinarian role between two individuals — one focused on companion animal care and the other focused on production animals.

Dr. Katie Rumsey was hired as the Iowa assistant state veterinarian focused on companion animal care in March and officially joined the department in May. Rumsey has more than 14 years of experience in small-animal medicine, public health, and disease control and prevention.

“We’re committed to protecting the health and welfare of all animals in Iowa, and being transparent about our regulatory process,” she says. “Since March, our department has been reviewing the animal welfare rules that fall under our regulatory authority; we’ve also been holding meetings with key stakeholders, including legislators, animal advocacy groups, commercial breeders and the department’s animal inspectors, to determine if changes were needed.

“We agreed that all licensed companion animal facilities should be held to the same requirements; and they should all be held to higher standards than are reflected in the current administrative rules.”

Reports online

As part of the IDAL’s continued commitment to transparency, IDALS officials say the inspection reports will remain available online and are now posted in a more user-friendly interface. These inspection reports include unannounced annual inspections, complaint inspections and re-inspections.

This makes it easier for consumers to research breeders, shelters, rescues, boarding kennels, doggy daycares, groomers and trainers, so they can feel confident that the establishment is operating in compliance with Iowa law.

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