Animal Care and Control Accomplishments and Improvements

Message from the Manager

December 31, 2009

Happy New Year from the staff at King County Animal Care and Control! We hope your celebrations are festive and safe for the animals in your home, barn or neighborhood. Fireworks anytime of year can cause injury to animals, so make sure they are not nearby. Animals have a much more keen sense of hearing than we do and fireworks and firework displays can frighten them and cause them to panic or run away.

As we move into 2010, I’m pleased to announce that King County Animal Care and Control is still open and providing shelter and field service to unincorporated King County and 34 contracting cities. If you have any questions, please call us at 206-296-7387. Our main phone lines are answered by our Call Center staff Monday through Friday (except for major holidays), 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

If you are a pet owner who makes New Year’s resolutions, can we suggest a few to consider?

•  Resolve to spend more time with your pet – they will appreciate the attention and the bond between the two of you will grow even stronger. Take more walks with the dog, sign up for an obedience class or play more with your felines.
• Resolve to make sure your pet is always wearing at least two forms of identification – a pet license and personal ID tag on the collar, or a pet license and microchip are combinations that will help to save your pet’s life should it get out and run away or become injured. A majority of the animals seen at KCACC last year were stray animals without any forms of identification. Pets wearing current i.d. have a better chance of being returned to your home!
• Resolve to prepare a pet emergency kit in the event of a disaster or emergency – to find out what should go into your pet’s disaster kit or in a pet first aid kit, click here. 

On behalf of the staff and volunteers at KCACC,

Nancy B. McKenney, MNPL, CAWA

Interim Manager

King County Animal Care and Control

Changes are coming to King County Animal Care and Control, and we want you to be informed and prepared. On Thursday, September 24, King County Executive Kurt Triplett announced a proposal aimed at transitioning King County out of the business of providing animal care and control and instead creating a new regional entity and partnerships to take over the vital work of sheltering animals and providing animal control in the region.

This is a change in structure but we, and the animals, still need you to adopt pets from us and comply with the law and license your pets.

Executive Triplett has directed his staff to work with labor, the cities and nonprofit groups, and volunteers to develop a new model for animal sheltering and control services that is humane and financially sustainable. Staff will work with labor partners to seek creation of a new entity to respond to bite reports and vicious dog complaints and work with animal welfare groups to establish a new model for sheltering.

His proposal will spark a planning process over the coming months that will not always be predictable. But the goal is a better situation for the animals and those who care about them, with more regional resources and without some of the constraints that face King County. There is uncertainty for everyone involved, and we are giving the public as much information as we know right now.

In addition to funding and programmatic changes, we are also bracing for the potential flooding threat in the Green River Valley. The Kent shelter location will need to be moved before flood season begins, which means regardless of what happens to KCACC programs, we will be working out of an alternate location by November 1.

King County staff are working quickly to secure the alternate location before flood season begins. As soon as we have a location finalized, we will let the public know.

If you live in or around the Green River Valley, which includes parts of Auburn, Kent, Renton, South Seattle and Tukwila, please take a moment to make a plan to prepare your pets for the potential flooding threat. FEMA has some wonderful online resources for disaster preparation for pets (external link).

These are unprecedented times for KCACC and all of King County government, and please know that we will continue to serve the pets and public who depend on us as we transition through this change.

From all of the staff at KCACC, thank you for considering adoption of the wonderful pets waiting for a forever home in our shelters right now.

Sincerely,

Nancy B. McKenney, MNPL, CAWA
Interim Manager
King County Animal Care and Control

2009 Accomplishments

Adoption events and other services

• Off-site adoption participation in the Seattle Dog Winterfest event with popular dog trainer, Cesar Millan, 1/17-1/18/09
• Special senior cats for seniors off-site adoption event at Pet Pros, 1/27
• Off-site event at Regal Cinemas Auburn Stadium 17 for "Hotel Dogs" premiere, 1/31
• Off-site adoption event called "Diamonds in the Ruff" at Reber Ranch, 2/7-2/8
• Date set and plans underway for the Annual Super Pet Adopt-a-thon event this coming July (7/11/09)

Partnerships

• King County Animal Care and Control continues to transfer adoption animals on a regular basis to other animal organizations, such as NOAH (Stanwood), PAWS (Lynnwood) and Pasado Safehaven (Sultan).
• Launched partnership with Comcast Cable to promote animals for adoption. Every six weeks, Comcast will film animals and show them on the "On Demand" cable feature.
• Every weekend in February, the Kent Fire Department firefighters provided free health screenings to the public as residents searched for a pet in the new cat building.

Facility improvements

• Officially dedicated a new modular building for housing of adoptable cats
• Organized a successful Open House event with PIMA Institute on 1/26/09
• The Kent Shelter front lobby is being renovated, which will improve the space for animals, the public and staff. Expected completion late Spring 2009.

Conducting cruelty investigations

• 4 first-degree animal cruelty trials are pending
• 5 Probable Cause Certifications filed in the court and are pending
• 5% less cruelty calls received 1/1 - 2/28/09 when compared to the same time period 2008

Happy tails

King County Animal Care and Control Officers were the first on the scene responding to a call about a horse that had fallen down a well near Covington. After Animal Control Officers coordinated the multi-agency response, Bailey the horse is doing just fine now. Read the complete story and view pictures of the rescue.

Stray cat brought into the shelter in mid-February, found to be microchipped and was a lost cat from July 2008. Cat owners lost the cat when they were preparing to move to Tucson, Arizona. Staff escorted the cat to Arizona and reunited the cat with the family (3/5). This story is a great example of the benefit of microchips and the owners keeping their information current on the microchip's national registry. Read the complete story.

2008 Accomplishments

King County Animal Care and Control (KCACC) has worked hard to make program and facility improvements that benefit the animals and public in King County. Read the complete list of our progress in 2008 and accomplishments to gain a greater appreciation for King County Animal Care and Control.