ESHB 1150 -
By Committee on Judiciary
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 16.08.070 and 2002 c 244 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
this section apply throughout RCW 16.08.070 through 16.08.100.
(1) "Potentially dangerous dog" means any dog that when unprovoked:
(a) Inflicts bites on a human or a domestic animal either on public or
private property, or (b) ((chases or approaches a person upon the
streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds in a menacing fashion or
apparent attitude of attack, or any dog with)) has a known propensity,
tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury, or to
cause injury or otherwise to threaten the safety of humans or domestic
animals.
(2) "Dangerous dog" means any dog that (a) inflicts severe injury
on a human being without provocation on public or private property, (b)
kills a domestic animal without provocation while the dog is off the
owner's property, or (c) has been previously found to be potentially
dangerous because of injury inflicted on a human, the owner having
received notice of such and the dog again aggressively bites, attacks,
or endangers the safety of humans.
(3) "Severe injury" means any physical injury that results in
broken bones or disfiguring lacerations requiring multiple sutures or
cosmetic surgery.
(4) "Proper enclosure of a dangerous dog" means, while on the
owner's property, a dangerous dog shall be securely confined indoors or
in a securely enclosed and locked pen or structure, suitable to prevent
the entry of young children and designed to prevent the animal from
escaping. Such pen or structure shall have secure sides and a secure
top, and shall also provide protection from the elements for the dog.
(5) "Animal control authority" means an entity acting alone or in
concert with other local governmental units for enforcement of the
animal control laws of the city, county, and state and the shelter and
welfare of animals.
(6) "Animal control officer" means any individual employed,
contracted with, or appointed by the animal control authority for the
purpose of aiding in the enforcement of this chapter or any other law
or ordinance relating to the licensure of animals, control of animals,
or seizure and impoundment of animals, and includes any state or local
law enforcement officer or other employee whose duties in whole or in
part include assignments that involve the seizure and impoundment of
any animal.
(7) "Owner" means any person, firm, corporation, organization, or
department possessing, harboring, keeping, having an interest in, or
having control or custody of an animal.
(8) "Dog" includes wolf-dog hybrids.
Sec. 2 RCW 16.08.100 and 2002 c 244 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Any dangerous dog shall be immediately confiscated by an animal
control authority if the: (a) Dog is not validly registered under RCW
16.08.080; (b) owner does not secure the liability insurance coverage
required under RCW 16.08.080; (c) dog is not maintained in the proper
enclosure; or (d) dog is outside of the dwelling of the owner, or
outside of the proper enclosure and not under physical restraint of the
responsible person. The owner must pay the costs of confinement and
control. The animal control authority must serve notice upon the dog
owner in person or by regular and certified mail, return receipt
requested, specifying the reason for the confiscation of the dangerous
dog, that the owner is responsible for payment of the costs of
confinement and control, 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 twenty days. The animal control
authority shall destroy the confiscated dangerous dog in an expeditious
and humane manner if any deficiencies required by this subsection are
not corrected within twenty days of notification. In addition, the
owner shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor punishable in accordance
with RCW 9A.20.021.
(2) 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 an animal control authority, placed in quarantine for
the proper length of time, and thereafter destroyed in an expeditious
and humane manner.
(3) 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,
upon conviction, 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 young 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 young 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 an animal control authority, quarantined, and upon conviction of the
owner destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner.
(4) Any person entering a dog in a dog fight is guilty of a class
C felony punishable in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021."
ESHB 1150 -
By Committee on Judiciary
On page 1, line 1 of the title, after "dogs;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "and amending RCW 16.08.070 and 16.08.100."