Bellingham, WA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Bellingham Municipal Code Chapter 7.08 (Dog Control) does not contain a breed-specific ban, special permit, insurance requirement, or muzzle rule for any breed. Pit bull-type dogs (American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and mixes), Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds, Akitas, Mastiffs, and Chow Chows are all legal to own in Bellingham subject only to the universal licensing, leash, vaccination, and dangerous-dog rules that apply to every dog. State preemption is the controlling reason: Washington House Bill 1026 (2019 legislative session) added RCW 16.08.110, effective January 1, 2020, which provides that a city, town, or county may not prohibit a dog based solely upon its breed unless the local breed-based regulation provides procedures and standards for declaring individual dogs as dangerous or potentially dangerous, provides a reasonable exemption process for dogs of the regulated breed that have passed a recognized canine good citizen test or similar behavior test, and meets the other conditions in the statute. As a practical matter, RCW 16.08.110 ended most categorical breed bans in Washington when it took effect on January 1, 2020, and Bellingham was not among the small number of Washington jurisdictions with active BSL on that date. Bellingham's enforcement framework is therefore entirely conduct-based: BMC 7.08.130 tracks the definitions of 'potentially dangerous dog' and 'dangerous dog' in Chapter 16.08 RCW (a dog that without provocation inflicts severe injury or kills a human or domestic animal, or that has been previously found potentially dangerous and bites again, etc.); BMC 7.08.160 provides for a disposition hearing with notice and right to be heard; BMC 7.08.170 imposes the registration, enclosure, muzzle, microchip, signage, and $100/year fee requirements once a dog is declared dangerous. BMC 7.12.070 (Regulation of wolves and wolf hybrids) extends the dangerous-dog framework of BMC 7.08.170 to wolves and wolf hybrids and additionally requires that hybrids be kept segregated from domestic dogs and cats. Private restrictions - HOAs, condo declarations, landlord leases, and homeowners-insurance carriers - frequently restrict specific breeds in Bellingham regardless of the City's permissive Code, and remain enforceable.