Pasco, WA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

010, notifying the owner personally or by certified mail if the owner can be determined. Owners may appeal to the Hearing Examiner within 10 days of the declaration, with a hearing scheduled within seven days; a Hearing Examiner decision can be further appealed to Franklin County Superior Court within 21 days. No one may keep a potentially dangerous or dangerous animal without an annual permit from the Poundmaster, and any such animal found at large without a permit is impounded immediately at the owner's expense.

To get a permit, the owner must maintain a proper enclosure approved by the Poundmaster, post a conspicuous warning sign, and carry either a $250,000 surety bond or liability insurance of at least $250,000 with a deductible no higher than $2,500, plus notify surrounding property owners and give them a chance to comment. An animal classified only as 'potentially dangerous' can be exempted from the permit if it passes the AKC Canine Good Citizen test or an equivalent behavioral test, with the exemption lasting two years before retesting is required; the exemption never survives a change of ownership.

When off the owner's property, a dangerous or potentially dangerous animal must be muzzled, leashed, and under the control of someone physically able to restrain it; on the property it must stay in the approved enclosure. It is a defense to a charge under this section that the injured person was committing, about to commit, or had just committed a trespass or crime that provoked the animal's reaction.