40 Year Kennewick Dangerous Dog Ordinance Amended, Not Overturned
Before Tuesday, Kennewick's city code defined pit bull type dogs as potentially dangerous and that definition needed to be amended by January 1, 2020 to remain in compliance with a soon-to-be-enacted state law.
The law, House bill 1026, prohibits cities from declaring dogs as dangerous or potentially dangerous based on breed without a reasonable process for exempting individual dogs that pass a canine good citizen test.
At a Kennewick council meeting on Tuesday, city councilors repealed the current code and removed the designation for pit bulls, Staffordshire bull terriers and similar breeds of dogs.
The 2019 Washington Legislature stepped in with a bill requiring cities with breed specific legislation (BSLs) to exempt dogs that can be certified as good canine citizens by the American Kennel Club or other organizations.