Kitsap County, WA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

KCC 7.08.010(a) requires all adult dogs and cats in unincorporated Kitsap County to be licensed within thirty calendar days of the date the owner acquires the animal or takes up residence in the county. Owners choose a one-year, three-year, or lifetime license, and KCC 7.08.010(b) makes lifetime licenses run for the animal's life with no expiration, while term licenses expire one or three calendar years from issuance. License fees are set annually by resolution of the board of county commissioners under KCC 7.08.010(c), and KCC 7.08.010(d) exempts cats in temporary veterinary or animal-welfare custody, cats owned by a licensed commercial pet facility or hobbyist facility, and service dogs from the fee.

Rabies vaccination verification is required with every license and renewal under KCC 7.08.020. A cat that leaves its owner's premises without physical restraint adequate to its size or without being under the owner's direct control is at large and subject to a Class 1 civil infraction under KCC 7.14.030(1); the animal control authority may return the cat to a known owner without formal impoundment for a set fee, or impound it. Kitsap's code separately defines a "feral cat" in KCC 7.04.020(13) as one with no apparent owner or identification that is wild, untamed, or unable to be handled, and specifies that a feral cat is not a "pet" under Title 7.

Under KCC 7.10.010(f)(3), an impounded feral cat that goes unredeemed may be given to an animal welfare organization, adopted, or euthanized no sooner than twenty-four hours after impoundment, a shorter window than the seventy-two hours to seven days allowed for owned cats. These provisions apply only to the unincorporated county.