Covington will not be making changes to the city’s dangerous dogs regulations in the near future.

The City Council had directed staff to bring back information about increasing payments to King County Animal Control for more enforcement. The members were also interested in the enforcement regulations in other cities and citizen education.

One of the issues City Manager Derek Matheson said he learned in his research was enforcement was more important than adding new regulations.

The city adopted the county code concerning dangerous dogs. The city law does not ban specific breeds as dangerous, but does state a dog can be found vicious and legal action can be taken against the owner.

Matheson said considering the lean budget the city is facing, paying more money to King County Animal Control is not in the cards, particularly since the King County Executive Kurt Triplett has said funding for county animal control may be cut

Matheson said, “We (Covington) don’t give any money to King County for animal control. If we want higher services we have to pay for it.”