Kent animal shelter to close; County may stop providing animal control

Submitted by KOMO Staff on Thursday, September 24th, 01:28pm

King County is closing its animal shelter in Kent due to flooding concerns and Interim King County Executive Kurt Triplett said he wants the county to get out of the animal control business altogether.

The shelter, 21615 64th Ave. S., will will stop accepting animals in the next week or so, and send the animals not adopted to other shelters.

Triplett’s proposed budget funds only the first six months of animal control, from January first to June 30 2010.

The county has contracts to provide animal control to 32 cities. Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Triplett said existing animal control operations could form a nonprofit separate from the county, or they could be taken over by a nonprofit agency like The Humane Society.

Council members Reagan Dunn and Kathy Lambert, both at the conference, said they support the county getting out of animal control and Dunn said his colleagues on the council would likely also support the plan.

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Comments

Submitted by JAYok (not verified) on Friday, September 25th, 10:56am.

To cut the transition time so badly is rediculous. Probably a good idea to get King County out of this because the way they handle things the pets would probably be better off in the long run.

Submitted by 1128cher on Saturday, September 26th, 11:21am.

This is unbelivable to close animal control is such a BAD IDEA the animals need our help they need a place to be adopted. I do understand the budget problems but there has to be money some where . the county does such stupid things with there money like forming groups to study things that are not necessary if this closes we will have a huge problem that i dont even think they are thinking about the big picture the animals . what happen to all the money we pay on pet lisc. and adoption money where has that gone . I understand that king county does handly things sooo wrong and that needs to be fix also i have been dealing with a loose dog that chases people for 1 1/2 years and they will not do anything until it bites someone and that makes me mad but to loose animal control is not the answer i hope someone steps in soon

Submitted by Matt (not verified) on Sunday, September 27th, 04:13pm.

The repercussions of such a foolhardy act will be sorely felt throughout the entire region for years to come. Animal control is an important part of public safety. Its not suppose to fund itself. Public safety and animal welfare are worth the cost. Tax dollars are well spent in these real life arenas. Furthermore, as a citizen of an adjoining county, I am not looking forward to King county's animals coming our way, adding to our already over burdened animal shelter system. Please reconsider.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, September 29th, 05:32am.

WHY IS IT WHEN RICH PEOPLE MAKE THE RULES ONLY THE POOR AND HELPLESS SUFFER MAYBE IF THESE JACKASSES TOOK A BIT OF A PAYCUT INSTEAD OF ALWAYS GIVING EACH OTHER RAISES AND BONUSES OUR PETS WOULDNT HAVE TO SUFFER