Animal Services ignored County Council mandate to protect the public, committee told

September 15, 2009

Summary

Council demands answers from Animal Care and Control

Story

Reports critical of King County’s response to citizen calls about vicious dog attacks today had a committee of the Metropolitan King County Council asking why the County’s animal services managers prioritized animal cruelty calls above public safety.

“I’m shocked at the state of affairs and even more shocked that we never heard of this problem from the Executive, but instead read about it in the paper,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn, chair of the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee. “The Council has never authorized these policies to remove services that are critical to public safety. If this policy was established by KCACC management it defies common sense and the basic principles of this government. These are examples of a failed agency which is not carrying out its mission.”

“KCACC should be carrying out both sides of their mission—protecting the public and providing humane treatment for animals,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “The Executive must present the Council with a plan that identifies the resources for carrying out these functions without pitting public safety against animal welfare.”

“After the recent dog attacks, my constituents in South King County are suspicious of neighbor dogs, and now lack confidence that anyone will answer their calls for help if an attack occurs,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, who has been one of the Council’s leaders in reforming the County’s animal care and control system. “The King County Council has never equivocated – our number one priority is the safety of our residents.”

Dunn noted that the County Council has always set public safety as a top priority for the mission of King County Animal Care and Control (KCACC), in particular when directing actions in April 2008 to improve conditions for animals in King County shelters.

When asked if KCACC had ever brought their concerns to the attention of the Council, legislative staff told members that no such reports had been received. They added that as recently as July 15 the Council received an annual report from KCACC that makes no mention of any problems with response times and details none of the statistics that were provided to the news media and published in a recent news report.

“KCACC has clearly made poor choices in how it allocates its resources,” said Dunn. “Our staff has provided us with examples of such poor choices. KCACC allocated funds for a licensing enforcement officer to chase after people who won’t license their pets, and for a high-level management position to supervise pet licensing. Funding for these positions clearly could have been redirected to respond to public safety calls.”

“By accusing the Council of being responsible for their poor dangerous dog response times, KCACC is deceiving the public and attempting to hide their mismanagement in creating an effective field and shelter program, allocating staff, and running operations,” said Patterson. “This latest revelation provides the King County Council with one more reason to consider getting out of the animal sheltering business, and turning over some animal control services, such as responses to dangerous dog reports, to our Sheriff’s department.”

Dunn called on the County Executive to report back on how he proposed to meet the mandated responsibilities of KCACC to respond more quickly to reports of vicious animals.

Dunn also cited citizen complaints to him that shelter staff have been turning away strays or animals whose owners must relinquish them, with the message that the shelter does not have room and they must go elsewhere. Dunn said he found the complaints troubling in light of the shelter’s longstanding open admissions policy and a recent 20 percent drop in shelter admissions. He said the practice, if true, may be why animals are being abandoned at veterinary offices and rescue agencies.

“KCACC should be working collaboratively for the transfer of animals, not shutting its doors and leaving other organizations to pick up after our failures,” said Dunn.

Representatives of KCACC and the County Executive’s office were unable to appear at the meeting due to work on flood relocation and the 2010 budget. The Executive’s liaison to the Council said the Executive would provide answers to the questions in two weeks time.

In related action, the committee recommended proposed legislation to the full Council that would speed the transfer of adoptable shelter animals to rescue groups.