Mason County, WA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 17.07.120(G)(4) is one line inside the NR district's list of accessory uses and buildings: the keeping of common household animals or pets, excluding cats kept indoors, is limited to four. The parenthetical carve-out matters: an indoor cat does not count toward the four-animal cap at all, while outdoor cats, dogs, and other common household pets share a single household limit of four. The same subsection separately exempts other small animals kept indoors as household pets in aquariums, terrariums, cages, or similar containers, which are not limited in number, so caged birds, reptiles, or small mammals kept inside do not count against the four-pet cap either.

The limit sits in the zoning code, not the county's animal-control chapter, Title 4.08, so it is enforced as a land-use standard tied to the NR district rather than through the animal-control officer's at-large or nuisance process. It applies specifically to the Shelton UGA's Neighborhood Residential district; the rural residential districts and the Allyn and Belfair UGAs do not carry the same numeric pet cap in the text of their own use lists. A household that already exceeded four pets when the district's regulations took effect in 2009 is treated under the code's general nonconforming-use provisions at § 17.05.016, which allow a lawful existing use to continue unless it is abandoned for two years or more.