The Supervisor for Animal Control Services is Sgt. Scott Raudabaugh, an employee of the police dept. If he refuses to meet with you, talk with you, voice your concerns to his supervisor Capt. Waymire, Chief of Police Judy Bradshaw, and the City Manager Richard Clark. As a citizen you have the right to communicate with any public servant. Remember to stay respectful regardless of your feelings.
City Manager Richard Clark
(515) 283-4141 citymanager@dmgov.org
Chief of Police, Judy Bradshaw mailto:Policechief@dmgov.org
Captain Waymire (515)283-4881
Animal Control Unit
Supervised by a Sergeant-Scott Raudabaugh
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Animal Control Unit
- 1615 SE 14th Street
- Des Moines, IA 50320
- (515) 248-6050
For an Animal Control Officer, please call the Des Moines Police Department at (515) 283-4811
Animal Control Officers Investigate reports of animal cruelty and neglect, animal bites, injured animals, stray animals and complaints of barking dogs. They also pick up dead animals.
Animal Adoptions
Effective July, 23 2005 the Animal Rescue League of Iowa began providing animal shelter services for the City of Des Moines. Animals are no longer available for adoption from the City of Des Moines
Animals taken to animal shelter will be held for the appropriate period of time and then turned over to the Animal Rescue League for evaluation of adoptability.
For more information about animal adoptions visit the Animal Rescue League of Iowa web site at www.arl-iowa.org or call (515) 262-9503.
Animal Bites
For Animal Control Unit services call the Des Moines Police Department Dispatch at (515) 283-4811 or 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
Anyone bitten by an animal or the owner of any animal which bites a person or animal, and breaks the skin, is required to report it to the Animal Control Unit for investigation.
- The investigation includes
- An interview of the people involved
- An attempt to identify and locate the animal(s)
- A quarantine of the animal(s) for 10 days
- An Animal Incident Investigation Report
- The following information is needed
- The time and date the bite occurred
- The address or location where the bite occurred
- A description of the animal(s) involved
- The location of the bite animal
- The name, address and telephone number of the victim(s) and any witnesses
- Any information about how the bite occurred
Animal Licenses
In the City of Des Moines, all dogs and cats six months old or older are required to have a city license. When applying for a dog or cat license, a current rabies certificate must be provided. Display of the city license and current rabies tag on a dog or cat is required at all times.
Click here to download a dog or cat license form
City licenses are available at the City Clerk’s Office, Des Moines City Hall, 400 East 1st Street.
The cost for city licenses are $35.00 for an intact dog or cat or $15.00 for a spayed or neutered dog or cat. The cost to senior citizens for city licenses is $5.00 for the first pet and the regular price for additional pets. The city licenses are due January 1st of every year. A late charge of $50.00 is added April 1st.
Dangerous Animals
City of Des Moines ordinance prohibits the keeping, sheltering or harboring of a dangerous animal
City of Des Moines ordinance defines a dangerous animal as an animal that has bitten or clawed a person while running at large and the attack was unprovoked or any animal that has exhibited vicious propensities in present or past conduct including:
- Has bitten or clawed a person on two separate occasions within a 12 month period
- Bit or clawed once causing injuries above the shoulders of a person
- Could not be controlled or restrained by the owner at the time of the attack to prevent the occurrence
- Has attacked any domestic animal or fowl on three separate occasions within a 12 month period
If a hearing is held and an animal is declared dangerous, the owner will be required to remove it from the city or have it euthanized.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
Illegal Animals
City of Des Moines Ordinance prohibits the keeping, sheltering or harboring of any illegal animal.
The City of Des Moines Ordinance defines an illegal animal as:
- Any animal which is not naturally tame or gentle and which is of a wild nature or disposition, which is capable of killing, inflicting serious injury upon or causing disease among human beings or domestic animals and having known tendencies as a species to do so.
- Any animal declared to be illegal by the Board of Health, or the City Manager or his/her designee.
- Any non-domesticated member of the order carnivore which, as an adult, exceeds the weight of 20 pounds.
- The following animals are deemed to be illegal: Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, Leopards, Cougars, Lynx, Bobcats, Wolves, Coyotes, Foxes, Badgers, Wolverines, Skunks, Mink, Raccoons, Bears, Monkeys, Chimpanzees, Bats, Alligators, Crocodiles, Caimans, Scorpions, Snakes and reptiles that are venomous, Snakes that are constrictors over six feet in length, Gila Monsters, Opossums, all Apes, Baboons, Macaques and Piranhas.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
Nuisance / Stray Animals
Barking Dogs or Noisy Pets
No Person shall own, posses or harbor any animal or bird which frequently or for continued duration emits sounds native to the species which are a noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary or within a noise sensitive area.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
Animal Control Officers will attempt to meet with the owner of a problem pet. An attempt will be made to advise the pet owner of the city ordinance and possible solutions to the problem. Citations may also be issued.
Stray Animals
A dog or cat shall be deemed to be at large if it is not properly licensed or if it is not housed restrained or controlled, in accordance with City of Des Moines Ordinance. However, a cat shall not be deemed to be at large if is spayed or neutered and is displaying a spay/neuter tag, a rabies tag and City of Des Moines license.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
Other types of pets/animals allowed by City of Des Moines Ordinance shall be housed, restrained or controlled in compliance with City of Des Moines Ordinance.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
City of Des Moines Animal Control Officers will not place a humane trap for wild animals unless a wild animal is involved in a bite incident or is in the occupied area of a residence or business.
Vicious Dogs
City of Des Moines Ordinance requires vicious dogs to be securely confined within an occupied house or residence or in a securely enclosed and locked pen or kennel with secure sides and top or walls at least six feet high and at least six feet taller than any internal structure. Also required is a secure bottom, floor or foundation attached to the sides of the pen or kennel, or the sides of the pen or kennel must be embedded in the ground no less than two feet. City of Des Moines ordinance requires that if a vicious dog is outside it’s kennel or pen that it be securely leashed and controlled by a person 18 years of age or older.
For more information please view City of Des Moines Ordinance
The City of Des Moines Ordinance Defines a Vicious Dog as:
- Any dog which has attacked a human being or domestic animal one or more times, without provocation
- Any dog with a history, tendency or disposition to attack, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals
- Any dog that snaps, bites or manifests a disposition to snap or bite
- Any dog that has been trained for dog fighting, animal fighting or animal baiting or is owned or kept for such purposes
- Any dog trained to attack human beings, upon command or spontaneously in response to human activities except dogs owned by and under control of the Police Department, a law enforcement agency of the State of Iowa or the United States or a branch of the armed forces of the United States
- Staffordshire Terrier breed of dog
- The American Pit Bull Terrier breed of dog
- The American Staffordshire Terrier breed of dog
- Any dog which has the appearance and characteristics of being predominately of the breeds of Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier