How Iowa Sets the Standard for Oversight

Iowa is one of only a handful of states that both license and regularly inspect dog breeders and dealers. Our laws are designed to complement the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and ensure that no operation slips through the cracks without accountability.

It’s easy to look at Iowa’s enforcement activity and assume it signals a problem — but in truth, it reflects the opposite. Enforcement is evidence of standards, not the absence of them. Many states simply don’t have a comparable system in place to monitor, inspect, and document conditions at licensed kennels.

Dual Licensing Creates Real Accountability

The USDA only licenses certain breeders — specifically those who sell puppies sight-unseen, such as to a pet store or through a third-party transporter. In many states, there is no separate state licensing system and no state agency responsible for enforcing kennel standards. Those states rely entirely on the federal government for oversight, meaning many breeders operate without any regular state-level inspections or accountability.

Iowa took a different approach. Every kennel with more than four intact dogs is required to be licensed by the state. This ensures that every facility conducting regulated activity is covered. If a breeder chooses to surrender or drop their USDA license, the state steps in immediately to maintain oversight under Iowa’s own standards. There is no loophole, and there is no way to simply walk away from regulation.

A System That Shows Results

Since 2022, shortly after new USDA and state standards were put in place, citations in Iowa have dropped by a staggering margin. This improvement reflects years of progress, cooperation, and education between breeders, inspectors, and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The result is a stronger, more consistent industry that continues to raise the bar for animal care and compliance nationwide.

A Model of Cooperation

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship works closely with the USDA to identify facilities that should be federally licensed and ensure they are not operating unregulated. That cooperation is rare among states — and it’s a major reason Iowa’s system functions as well as it does.

In short, the same facilities that appear on inspection or enforcement reports in Iowa would, in many other states, never be inspected at all. Iowa’s visible enforcement record isn’t a reflection of poor compliance — it’s a reflection of a system that works.

Accountability in Action

When a substandard facility in Iowa makes headlines, it’s usually because a licensed operation slipped below standards — and the oversight systems in place identified and addressed it. In contrast, many of the shocking cases seen in other states are discovered only when law enforcement happens to uncover them while investigating unrelated matters. In those instances, conditions are often so severe that even Iowa’s lowest-rated facility under enforcement action would represent a substantial improvement. Iowa’s system ensures problems are found, documented, and corrected — not hidden until they reach a crisis point.

Commitment You Can Trust

While a perfect balance between enforcement and full compliance may never be reached, anyone purchasing a puppy from an Iowa breeder can take pride in knowing their dog comes from a state that is actively working toward that goal every day. Iowa’s regulators and breeders alike take this industry — and the responsibility that comes with it — incredibly seriously.