Bellingham, WA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

BMC 7.08.090(A) governs redemption of dogs held by the Bellingham-Whatcom County Humane Society, the city's designated animal control authority. Subsection (A)(2) states that "[a]ny unaltered dog impounded more than once within a 12-month period shall be spayed or neutered by the animal control authority prior to the release of the dog," with the cost "charged to the owner, who shall pay the charge prior to redeeming the dog." The trigger is a second (or later) impoundment within a rolling 12 months, not the dog's age or breed.

Owners are not without recourse: subsection (A)(3) lets the owner of a repeatedly impounded, unaltered dog request a hearing before the animal control authority within 72 hours of impoundment. If the authority finds "good cause to excuse the circumstances leading to the impoundment," the dog can be released unaltered, though the authority may still impose conditions "designed to avert future incidents." An adverse decision can be appealed to the city's hearing examiner within 72 hours of the authority's ruling; that review is limited to whether the decision was "arbitrary or capricious," and filing the request or appeal pauses the redemption clock.

The sterilization mandate sits alongside a fee incentive in BMC 7.08.080(A)(5): any dog over three months old that is unsterilized at impoundment is charged an extra $20.00 on top of the base impoundment fee ($40 first, $60 second, $80 third, $150 fourth-plus within 12 months). If a dog is never redeemed, BMC 7.08.090(B) requires any new adopter to "agree in writing to surgically sterilize the dog within one month of maturity" before the humane society will place it. [Ord. 2002-03-020; Ord. 10468 § 2, 1993].