Walla Walla County, WA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Chapter 6.04's restraint rule applies within a county dog control zone, an area the Board of County Commissioners establishes by resolution under RCW Chapter 16.10; Section 6.04.010.J names the Touchet Dog Control Zone, a half-mile radius circle near Touchet, as one such zone. Section 6.04.250 requires every dog inside a zone to be kept under restraint and bars an owner from permitting a dog to run at large or otherwise go unrestrained there; a dog able to leave the owner's property on its own will counts as at large regardless of intent.

Section 6.04.010.R defines restraint as being secured by a chain, leash, or lead no longer than eight feet and held by a competent person off the owner's premises, contained in a vehicle or veterinary hospital, kept "at heel" within two feet of the handler, or confined so it cannot range beyond the owner's property line. An officer who apprehends an unrestrained dog and cannot locate the owner, or is not satisfied the owner will restrain it, may impound the animal under Section 6.04.260, and the owner must pay accrued impoundment fees under Section 6.04.280, thirty-five dollars for the first day plus twenty dollars each additional day, before reclaiming it.

Section 6.04.410's penalty table sets the restraint violation at one hundred twenty-five dollars for a first offense, one hundred seventy-five for a second, and two hundred fifty for each offense after that within twelve months. The Sheriff's Office and animal control officers enforce the zone.