Attention dog owners of Pasco! The Pasco City Council is voting on whether to change the municipal code to decriminalize pet abandonment. As of right now dog owners can face jail time on even a first offense if they refuse to pick up their dogs after the pound catches the. Apparently, the process of prosecuting this includes a ton of paperwork and extra time to prosecute, so they are looking at changing the law. If the changes go in to effect, the first two offenses would just be have to pay a fine and the third offense would be a misdemeanor.

"If you're a repeat offender maybe there should be this kind of criminal punishment, but if you're not and it was truly just a mistake I'd rather have these animals get back to their homes," said Tri-Cities Animal Shelter's Director Angela Zilar. -KEPR TV

The code change was voted on Thursday, January 19th, but no word on how the vote went. If voted in, city the changes will take effect in five days. Good news for those whose pets legitimately just accidentally got out. Now they won't have to face criminal charges for an accident. However, if you can't keep your pooch in the yard repeatedly, you could be in more trouble.

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