The King County Council on Monday approved $965,000 in additional funding this year for immediate upgrades to the county animal shelters in Kent and Bellevue.
The money will help pay for new cat cages, new dog runs, an increase in shelter staffing, additional veterinary care, new cages for the animal-control trucks and oversight of shelter operations by the King County Auditor’s Office.
“Our first responsibility is to the health and safety of the animals that are in our care,” said Council Chairwoman Julia Patterson in a county media release. “Releasing these funds allows for these life-saving changes to get under way as quickly as possible.”
County Executive Ron Sims proposed last week for the Council to approve $965,000 in additional funding for the Animal Services Care and Control division in 2008.
Besides its shelters in Kent and Bellevue that house nearly 13,000 animals each year, the county also provides animal-control services to unincorporated areas and 37 cities within the county, including Kent. The City of Seattle has its own animal-control officers and operates an animal shelter.
Funding for the improvements includes $570,000 from a county animal-benefit fund that grew for more than 20 years from public donations. The rest of the money will come from the county’s capital improvement budget.
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