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

FWRC 9.05.370 targets repeat offenders rather than every pet owner: it applies once an unaltered dog or cat has already been impounded and is picked up again. On that second (or later) impoundment, the animal services authority sterilizes the animal before releasing it, and the cost of the procedure is charged to the owner as a condition of redemption alongside the standard redemption and boarding fees under FWRC 9.05.360. The city separately restricts unaltered-animal transactions in public: FWRC 9.18.070 makes it a violation to sell or give away an unaltered dog or cat in any public place, or to auction or raffle one as a prize, and FWRC 9.18.080 bars advertising an unaltered cat or dog to Federal Way residents unless the ad lists its license or juvenile license number, though licensed breeders may still advertise planned litters in national publications.

Any dog or cat adopted out of the city's contracted shelters must also be spayed or neutered before adoption under FWRC 9.05.380(1)(b). Together these provisions push sterilization at the points of impoundment, public sale and shelter adoption rather than mandating it for animals that stay licensed, current on rabies vaccination and never impounded.