Walla Walla County, WA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

WWCC § 17.26.020's table of minimum standards for animals sets fencing material rules for horses, mules, cows and llamas that also govern sheep, goats and pygmy goats by cross-reference. In residential zones, fences enclosing these animals must be built of wood or woven wire, not less than four feet and not more than six feet high. On top of that base fence, the county permits a maximum of two strands of either barbed wire or electric fence, provided proper warning signs are posted and the strands are set a minimum of twelve inches inside the regular fence rather than along its outer face.

This differs from the general residential fence rule in WWCC § 17.24.010, which caps ordinary yard fences at six feet with no barbed wire or electric strand allowance at all; the material exception applies only to enclosures built to contain domestic livestock. The section also requires that all animal fencing, regardless of material, be sited and constructed so animals cannot encroach on abutting property and damage trees, shrubbery or bushes there, and any enclosure that does not provide forage for the animals inside it must be set back twenty-five feet from the nearest lot line.

Because the barbed wire and electric strand allowance is written into the horse and livestock row of § 17.26.020 rather than the county's general fence chapter, a property owner fencing a yard for a use other than keeping animals gets no such allowance and must instead meet the plain wood, wire or similar-material limits under § 17.24.010.