Bengal Cats are currently banned in Seattle, WA.

Currently, there is an interpretation of a law in the City of Seattle which was originally created in order to protect Seattle residents (and others) from owning wild animals that could cause bodily harm.  The wording of this law was copied nearly exactly from a New York City law which was created when a condo owner thought it was a good idea to raise a Tiger cub as a pet.

Bengal Cats are now genetically proven to have an average of only 3% wild DNA making them domestic cats by every legitimate way to measure a cats wild nature.  They are not wild animals.  Yet, even though it would take 34 Bengal Cats to equal the amount of wild blood as 1 of their distant wild ancestors (the Asian Leopard Cat), it has been deemed by the director of Animal Control that Bengals too wild for Seattle and are therefore illegal.   There are 100's of residents who own Bengal Cats in the City of Seattle without any reported issues of physical damage to their owners (or others) and should not be seen as equal to owning a Tiger, Cougar, Lion or an early generation "hybrid" animal.    It should also be noted that in 2016, the last large pedigree association who registers cats has also come to agree that Bengals (who are at least 6 generations away from their earliest wild ancestor) are domestic for the purposes of showing cats in the Cat Fanciers Association -  the largest pedigree registration association in the world.   After all -  Don't all domestic cats come from a wild ancestor at some point in their history?

The law itself does not need to be changed.    We respectfully request that Ann Graves write a paper determining that Bengal Cats who are at least 6 generations away from their earliest wild ancestor be allowed to be registered for pet ownership by the City of Seattle because they are not wild!   This will provide revenue for Seattle and allow their current Bengal residents the ability to not feel like they are outlaws.

April, 2019 - Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill for the state of Washington where cities can no longer just outlaw certain dog breeds because of their heritage - we request the same respect for cat owners. (Even though we have not found any reports of Bengal Cats causing any significant bodily harm to Seattle residents).    I have been attempting to work with Ms. Ann Graves (who is now officially been made the Director of the Seattle Animal Shelter and the person in authority to make this change) for over 4 years without any success and very little cooperation.  I have not received answers to most of my questions and no changes have been made either.

https://housedemocrats.wa.gov/appleton/2019/04/30/rep-sherry-appletons-dog-breed-bill-signed-by-gov-inslee/ 

It's also interesting to note that NONE of this information is on the Seattle Animal Licensing Website!!!    Imagine moving to Seattle and purchasing a new home only to find out that your cat is illegal!    This really needs to be addressed and this overly strict interpretation of a law needs to change.

Bengals are no more dangerous than any other domestic cat living in a family home.   Yes, while someone could trip over them while they lay at the top of the stairs and break an arm - this should not be seen as the animals fault.  Bengals provide Seattle residents an escape from their stressful lives offering them "living room adventures" where their Bengals will play fetch, walk on a leash and are loyal with dog-like confidence and behavior.   Bengals contribute to the healthy lifestyle of many Seattle residents by removing some of the stress that we all feel on a daily basis.

While we can not completely understand the pressures and stress involved with Ms. Graves position as the head of the Seattle Animal Shelter (and therefore pet licensing), most Bengal owners have owned shelter pets before and some do now -  We all should strive for a symbiotic relationship where some people enjoy shelter animals and others enjoy pedigreed cats.    Pedigreed Cat Shows in CFA and TICA provide an amazing opportunity for the local shelters to adopt out 100's their cats/kittens as these shows donate space and the judges time/table to help show off these household pets!   All of us working together helps to create the best possible lifestyles for all of our humans and their pets!

Thanks for reading and for voting "Yes".   We specifically need Seattle residents to sign up for this :)   Thanks everyone!    I'll be sharing this petition with the Seattle City Council, Ann Graves and the Seattle Mayor once we get more signatures.   Within a week we hit 300 just from my Facebook post.   Now, lets see how many we can get from others passing it on!   Teresa Seling -  Traipse Bengals/Seattle Bengals in Issaquah, WA.