Twenty-seven cities, including Kent, sign up to join regional animal control program

Twenty-seven cities, including Kent, have signed letters of intent to join a collaborative new approach by King County for animal control, sheltering and licensing services as part of a new regional model paid for by the county and the cities.

King County Executive Dow Constantine presented the package June 1 to the County Council.

“With this new regional model the county and cities can provide better public health and safety, animal welfare and customer service, at a lower cost than cities could provide on their own,” said Constantine in a June 1 county media release. “At the same time we will continue to work on reforms that earn the respect of the community and lead to innovative partnerships that will reduce future costs.”

Constantine transmitted a Roadmap for Reform to address remaining areas for improvement in animal services; legislation containing the proposed contract with the cities; a proposed ordinance to make a variety of code changes to restructure license fees and enable public-private partnerships in support of the new model; and a supplemental budget request for $3.2 million, backed by $2.5 million in revenue, to implement the new model in the second half of this year and for other related costs.

“For the past three years I have worked to address the systemic problems in King County animal care and control,” said Council Budget Chair Julia Patterson, who represents much of the Kent area and worked closely with Constantine on the Council since 2007 to reform animal services. “I am pleased to see this model reflect the county’s values about care and treatment of animals. It takes a big step forward in fixing a broken system and meeting the needs – both programmatically and fiscally – of the county, the cities, our citizens, and the animals.”

Twenty-seven of the 34 original contracting cities have indicated interest in participating in the regional model through interlocal agreements lasting 2 1/2 years. If a critical mass of those cities follow through to sign contracts and the County Council approves, the new Regional Animal Services of King County would be implemented starting July 1.

A proposed contract has been sent to the 27 cities for staff review and prospective action by their respective city councils. The King County Council must also approve the contracts, which must be in place by June 30.

The full County Council is scheduled to hold public hearings on the regional animal services model on June 14 and June 21, with potential action set for June 21.

The county currently pays for and operates animal control and sheltering services (with shelters in Kent and Bellevue) for 32 cities and unincorporated areas at a cost of about $5.6 million per year. Pet-licensing fees pay for about 60 percent of the costs, which has left the county paying about $2 million per year out of its general fund to operate the program.

Cities that have historically received all animal control services from King County but have elected not to opt-in are Federal Way, Burien, Algona, Pacific, and Hunts Point. Bothell has indicated it would like to participate for six months. Newcastle previously contracted only for sheltering and control and has indicated interest in now contracting for licensing as well.

Seattle will continue to administer its own animal services and shelter.

The county has distributed cost estimates to participating cities that are based on the number of cities that have signed letters of intent; the more cities that participate, the lower the cost for each city. Total revenue from pet license sales in each city will be credited back to the amount each city would pay for services.

The proposed code changes would create incentives to promote pet licensing, which both supports the return of animals to their homes and is critical to the funding of services. The proposal would establish a “no-tolerance” policy for enforcement of licensing, and make changes to the structure of license fees. Revenue from pet license fees and related fines currently defrays about 60 percent of the cost of the regional service model.

“The facts are clear. The county must revise its plan for animal services because only 18 percent of the citizens receiving animal control services in South County are licensing their pets,” said Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis. “Clearly we must increase awareness to have the services we want to keep our communities safe.”

Among many code changes, the proposed ordinance would:

• Remove a significant disincentive to pet licensing by removing a provision that allows owners who are caught with an unlicensed pet to avoid penalties.

• Lower the license fee for unaltered pets to be more in line with other jurisdictions and encourage licensing.

• Authorize the county to enter into concession agreements with vendors to sell animal-related products and services, and to sell advertising, sponsorship and naming rights for the benefit of regional animal services.

• For the first time, authorize acceptance of credit and debit cards both at the Kent shelter and in the field to improve customer service and increase revenues.

• Create a long-awaited animal bequest fund to enable the disbursement of funds donated for the benefit of animals, in accordance with donor restrictions, and to enable the county to accept and solicit gifts, bequests and donations in support of regional animal services.

Constantine also proposes to:

• Hire a field operations and external affairs manager, ideally with proven experience in animal services, to improve animal care, manage the animal population, work with community partners, and develop operating procedures and ensure that those procedures are followed.

• Hire a full-time volunteer coordinator, essential for increasing the number of volunteers and effectively managing them, maintaining animal care within available resources and moving animals quickly through the shelter system – in particular during the approaching peak summer season.

• Hire a veterinary medical director and two additional veterinary technicians to provide a higher level of care in the Kent shelter, in part through the use of funds donated for improved animal care.

• Refine and continue to establish procedures to systematically identify all new calls about animal cruelty, follow up weekly with field sergeants, and provide guidance to the animal cruelty sergeant when pursuing the most serious cases.

• Work with the Sheriff’s Office to develop procedures for responding quickly and more effectively to potential animal cruelty cases and issues of public safety, engage police earlier in the investigation of serious cases, and establish policies and procedures for after-hours dispatch.

• Work with the King County Prosecuting Attorney to develop procedures to more clearly establish the actions that animal control officers can take in potential animal cruelty cases, particularly with regard to the seizure or impoundment of healthy animals in situations where other animals have died or been harmed, and to clarify when criminal as opposed to civil actions can be taken.

• Engage outside experts to review shelter, veterinary clinic, and field operations, objectively evaluate the progress that has been made, and identify additional improvements that are needed.

For more information, go to www.kingcounty.gov/safety/animalservices.aspx.