Iowa City, IA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

' An animal escapes that definition only if it is tethered or kept on the owner's own enclosed, fenced premises; tethered or kept with permission on someone else's enclosed, fenced premises; a dog inside a City dog park under an issued use permit; or under the control of a competent person and on a leash, enclosed in a building, or properly restrained in a vehicle. Section 8-4-1 defines a compliant leash as no more than ten feet long, though a retractable leash can physically extend up to twenty five feet if it can be manually locked so it never lets the animal range more than ten feet from the handler.

Section 8-4-6(D)(2) toughens the standard further: any animal is deemed at large the instant it attacks a person or animal, destroys property, or sets foot on public property while unrestrained, and any female animal in estrus is deemed at large at all times unless housed indoors, in a licensed boarding kennel or veterinary hospital, behind a fence at least sixty inches high, or on a leash under competent control.