Every responsible dog owner knows the trip to the vet to get their puppy caught up on the shots they need to keep them healthy and safe.

One of those shots is their rabies vaccination. It's kind of surprising to find out that not all states in the U.S require dogs to get this vaccination. Quite surprisingly, only 39 states currently require rabies vaccines for dogs and 11 states have no statewide legal requirement, according to DMV360. While these states might not require you to get your dog a rabies shot, they are strongly recommended by 999 out of 1,000 vets.

Thankfully, Iowa does require all dogs over the age of 6 months to be vaccinated for rabies. It's currently unlawful for any person to own or have a dog that doesn't have their rabies shot by the time their 6 months old in Iowa.

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When your dog gets their first rabies shot, the vet will send you home with the proper paperwork certification and a little green tag for you to put on their collar. These green tags are required to be on Iowa dogs collars or harnesses when they are over 6 months of age, and are off of the owners property. They obviously don't have to wear them if they're sitting inside your house.

You can see my dog's little green tag right here! It's crazy how big she got in these 5 months!

Gabe, Canva
Gabe, Canva
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My question is...if for whatever reason you and your dog are stopped by the police or animal control, whether you're at a park or on some kind of walk, does this little green tag ALWAYS mean you have updated proof that your dog has been vaccinated?

Is The Green Tag Proof Enough?

The reason I ask this question is, what if someone just uses this green tag for life, and never gets an updated shot? What if they took an old one from a friend who isn't using it anymore? What if they found one on the ground? Just because the green tag is on the collar doesn't always mean the dog is up to date on their rabies shot. People can be forgetful, lazy, or too cheap to pay for the shots sadly.

When a dog is at least 6 months old, they get their first shot, then they receive their 1 year booster shot, and then they will receive a three year booster in the future. According to Rabies Aware, if a dog is 1 day late on their updated shot, they are considered "overdue." Now you can see why this green tag doesn't always necessarily mean proof. If you're one day late, technically you are being unlawful.

Like plenty of laws in Iowa, each county is a little bit different. The general rule of thumb is to make sure you keep your dogs paperwork in a place you can easily find it.

According to Linn County Iowa, "The owner shall display the rabies vaccination tag and certificate to the Animal Control Officer or Health Officer upon demand." Even if your dog has their green tag, you may be asked for a copy of their paperwork. This might be extreme in most cases because how many people carry their dogs paperwork with them on a walk in the park? Not many.

But technically, at least in this particular Iowa county, you could be asked to show the certificate if you and your dog are out in public. This may not be the case in every county and in some counties, a green tag might be all you need. Most of the time, this would only happen if your dog didn't have their collar on, got loose, and was causing a problem around town. The green tag won't mean much to animal control if it's found without a collar on.

If You Don't Have The Paperwork On You?

After reaching out to multiple animal control offices in Iowa, I was unable to speak directly to an animal control officer. Sadly, I always went to voicemail after trying multiple offices. I've also searched the internet for an answer to this question and haven't been able to find a concrete answer what I'm looking for. So I called a vet hospital in Iowa.

What I learned was if a dog is lost or wandering around without a collar on and is picked up by animal control, they will normally call a vet to make sure the dog is up to date on their rabies shot.

In other states, if you are asked to provide a copy of your dogs rabies certificate and don't have that on you, you will normally have anywhere from 7-10 days to go to the county building and provide proof.

Once again...it would be extremely rare and possibly unheard of for an animal control officer to ask you for paperwork if you're out walking your dog and behaving responsibly. At least now you know that while it might never happen to you, technically you and your dog could be asked for their certification anytime you leave your house.

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