Pasco, WA Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Animal hoarding situations in the City of Pasco are addressed through a combination of pet-limit, cruelty, and removal provisions rather than a single 'hoarding' statute. The household animal limits (up to three dogs, three cats, three rabbits, and three hens, capped at six total on qualifying single-family lots) and the 'commercial kennel' definition in PMC 6.05.010 (four or more dogs or four or more cats over six months of age) set the baseline for how many animals may be kept and when kennel licensing applies. When animals are neglected, PMC 6.05.150 (crimes against animals) makes it unlawful to willfully injure, torture, torment, mutilate, neglect, or deprive any cat, dog, or other animal of necessary food or water, and requires an owner of an injured, ill, malnourished, neglected, or mistreated animal to provide necessary veterinary care; violations are a gross misdemeanor. For enforcement, PMC 6.05.160 allows a law enforcement or Animal Control Officer with probable cause to authorize removal of an animal, with a warrant, to a suitable place for feeding and care, or to place it in the Poundmaster's custody, when no responsible person can be found to assume the animal's care. Together these provisions give Pasco and Tri-Cities Animal Services the tools to intervene in overcrowding and neglect situations characteristic of hoarding.