King County Executive Dow Constantine is delivering on his promise to transform animal services in the region, setting new records for pets that are adopted after years of under-performance.
In 2006, the euthanasia rate at King County’s animal shelter in Kent was nearly 40 percent. Today, 9 out of 10 cats and dogs find a safe home.
“The people of King County want to know that every cat and dog has a safe, loving home; that every animal is cared for,” said Constantine in a media release. “I am proud that King County has created a model of compassionate, humane animal services that is setting the standard for the nation.”
Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) is a partnership between the county and 25 cities (including Kent) that represent 1 million residents. Under Executive Constantine’s leadership, RASKC has taken a series of actions that reduced the euthanasia rate to an all-time low of 12 percent:
• Shifted the focus away from merely providing shelter and disposing of unwanted animals toward helping every cat and dog that comes into our care find a safe home.
• Reduced the number of animals that need shelter by focusing resources on spaying and neutering.
• Created a new volunteer coordinator position to expand opportunities and provide additional help.
• Made it more convenient to adopt cats and dogs by creating public-private partnerships that make pets more accessible in local businesses, including the Petco store in Kirkland, The Whole Cat and Kaboodle in Redmond, and the new Seattle Meowtropolitan Café in Wallingford.
• Created partnerships with local nonprofits, such as Pasado’s Safe Haven, South County Cats, Puget Sound Working Cats, and Northwest Spay & Neuter Center, as well as private organizations like Pima Medical Institute.
• Made the pet adoption website more user-friendly.
• Implemented open data practices to make animal services information more accessible and transparent.
• Applied Lean principles and a commitment to continuous improvement, standardizing work, and employee engagement.
• Appointed Dr. Gene Mueller as manager of RASKC in 2012 with the clear direction to apply a data-informed, customer-service driven approach to improving animal services.
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