9.10.090 Potentially dangerous and dangerous dog -- Confiscation -- Conditions -- Penalties for owners of dogs that attack -- Dog Fights, penalty.
(1) Any potentially dangerous dog shall be immediately confiscated by the animal control agency if:
(a) the dog is either not contained by a secure fence or under control while on the property where the owner resides and outside of the owner’s dwelling; or
(b) the dog is off the property where the owner resides, and the dog is either not under control or not securely muzzled.
In addition, the owner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021.
(2) Any dangerous dog shall be immediately confiscated by the animal control agency if:
(a) the dog is not validly registered pursuant to SCC 9.10.040;
(b) the owner fails to maintain compliance with the requirements of SCC 9.10.040(3)(a)-(e) throughout the year for which the certificate of registration was issued; or
(c) the dog is not in a proper enclosure of a dangerous dog and not under control and securely muzzled.
In addition, the owner shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021.
(3) If a dog is confiscated under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the animal control agency must serve notice pursuant to this chapter upon the dog owner within 72 hours of the confiscation, specifying the reason for the confiscation of the potentially dangerous or dangerous dog, that the owner is responsible for redemption of the dog pursuant to SCC 9.12.110, and that the dog will be destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner if the deficiencies for which the dog was confiscated are not corrected within 15 calendar days of the receipt of the notification unless an appeal is filed under SCC 2.02.125. The animal control agency shall destroy the confiscated potentially dangerous or dangerous dog in an expeditious and humane manner if any deficiencies required by the notice are not corrected within 15 days of service of the notification and an appeal has not been filed under SCC 2.02.125.
(4) Any dog which threatens the safety of any animal or person may be immediately confiscated by the animal control agency prior to a notice being served pursuant to SCC 9.10.020. Within 72 hours of the confiscation, the animal control agency shall serve notice under SCC 9.10.020 on the owner. If the requirements included in the notice are satisfied and the dog is redeemed pursuant to SCC 9.12.110, the dog shall be released. The animal control agency shall destroy the confiscated dog in an expeditious and humane manner if the requirements included in the subsequent notice are not satisfied or the dog is not redeemed within 15 calendar days of the notification and an appeal has not been filed under SCC 2.02.125.
(5) An owner of a dog confiscated under this section may appeal the confiscation of the dog pursuant to SCC 9.10.030.
(6) If a potentially dangerous dog of an owner with a prior conviction under this chapter attacks or bites a person or a domestic animal, the dog’s owner is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021. It is an affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she was in compliance with the requirements for ownership of a potentially dangerous dog pursuant to this chapter and the person or domestic animal attacked or bitten by the defendant’s dog trespassed on the defendant’s real or personal property or provoked the defendant’s dog without justification or excuse.
(7) If a dangerous dog of an owner with a prior conviction under this chapter attacks or bites a person or another domestic animal, the dog’s owner is guilty of a class C felony, punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021. It is an affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she was in compliance with the requirements for ownership of a dangerous dog pursuant to this chapter and the person or domestic animal attacked or bitten by the defendant’s dog trespassed on the defendant’s real or personal property or provoked the defendant’s dog without justification or excuse. In addition, the dangerous dog shall be immediately confiscated by the animal control agency, placed in quarantine for the proper length of time, and thereafter destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner.
(8) The owner of any dog that aggressively attacks and causes severe injury or death of any human, whether or not the dog has previously been declared potentially dangerous or dangerous, shall be guilty of a class C felony punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021. It is an affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the human severely injured or killed by the defendant’s dog:
(a) trespassed on the defendant’s real or personal property which was enclosed by fencing suitable to prevent the entry of small children and designed to prevent the dog from escaping and marked with clearly visible signs warning people, including children, not to trespass and to beware of dog; or
(b) provoked the defendant’s dog without justification or excuse on the defendant’s real or personal property which was enclosed by fencing suitable to prevent the entry of small children and designed to prevent the dog from escaping and marked with clearly visible signs warning people, including children, not to trespass and to beware of dog. In such a prosecution, the state has the burden of showing that the owner of the dog either knew or should have known that the dog was potentially dangerous as defined in this chapter. The state may not meet its burden of proof that the owner should have known the dog was potentially dangerous solely by showing the dog to be a particular breed or breeds. In addition, the dog shall be immediately confiscated by the animal control agency, quarantined, and upon conviction of the owner destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner.
(9) Any person entering a dog into a dog fight is guilty of a class C felony punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021. (Added by Ord. 95-098 § 2, Dec. 20, 1995; Amended by Amended Ord. 06-134, Feb. 28, 2007, Eff date Mar. 16, 2007; Amended by Ord. 10-069, Sept. 8, 2010, Eff date Sept. 19, 2010; Amended by Ord. 16-111, Nov. 14, 2016, Eff date Dec. 8, 2016).