Spokane Valley, WA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

SVMC § 6.05.080 lists park rules whose violation "shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both," and subsection D, "Damage to Wildlife," is one of them. The provision reads: "Except for fishing authorized by state law, it is unlawful in any park to capture, attempt to capture, tease, annoy, disturb, feed, or strike any bird or animal, or to throw or otherwise propel any object at or in the vicinity of any bird or animal." The rule sits in Chapter 6.05, "Park Regulations," alongside the City's rules on alcohol permits, property damage, and dumping in waterways, all of which carry the same misdemeanor-level penalty rather than the lighter Class 3 infraction that governs most other park conduct violations under § 6.05.070.

The only carve-out is fishing that is otherwise authorized by state law, meaning a licensed angler legally fishing a stocked pond in a Spokane Valley park is not in violation even though catching a fish involves capturing an animal. Feeding wildlife, an act many park visitors treat as harmless, is explicitly listed alongside striking and harassing animals, so tossing bread to ducks at a park pond falls under the same misdemeanor provision as throwing rocks at squirrels. Because § 6.05.080 makes these misdemeanors rather than civil infractions, they are prosecuted criminally, typically by referral to the city attorney's office, rather than through the civil notice-and-order process that governs most nuisance violations under Chapter 7.05 SVMC.