HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem Submitted During Meeting
Page 1 of 2
Brenda Heineman
From: Nakatsu, Ken [Ken.Nakatsu@kingcounty.gov]
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 8:56 AM
To: Brenda Heineman
Cc: Frederiksen, Glynis; Hopkins, Sharon
Subject: RE: Tour of Kent Shelter
Hello Brenda,
Carrie Cihak mentioned that Auburn had some concerns about the quality of care at the Kent Shelter so I
thought a summary of the relatively recent improvements tliat have been made and our future plans
xnight be of interest to you.
- Cleaning and sanitation for both dogs and cats has been improved greatly, both by modifying facilities
and instituting more effective cleaning protocols.
. Trenches and grates have been installed in the dog kennels. .
. Larger cat cages have been purchased. .
. A trailer was installed and is used primarily for cat adoptions. This greatly increased our capacity
and, a1so, has allowed us to provide separate rooms isolate cats with upper respiratory illness
(LTRI) or other disease, feral cats, and kittens.
. Volunteers are being utilized to assist with cleaning and care.
Animal caze'and comfort has been improved through new bedding, diet, exercise and opportunities far `
socialization. . •
Veterinary coverage has been expanded to 6 days/week.
All animals are inoculated upon entry to the shelter. .
Euthanasia has been reduced from about 40% in 2006 to about 18% currently.
The PIMA Medical Institute, which provides training for veterinary assistants, hascollocated with the
Shelter and makes personnel and equipment available to assist us.
We have extended the hours of opera.tion for the Shelter to 7 days/week which, in addition to serving the
public better, enables us to move animals more quickly through the shelter system.
We have improved and expanded our shelter volunteer and foster care programs which improves animal
. care and helps manage the population in the shelter. .
Also with volunteer assistance and by designating an a.nimal control officer as an off-site placement
specialist, we have increased the number of adoption events and the number of animal adoptions (4,525
in 2006 and 6,062 in 2008).
And, vvhile we aze disappointed that Federal Way and Burien ha.ve chosen to provide animal services on
their own; rather than participating in a regional animal services model, this will enable us to provide
better caaze for the animals in our custody. In particulaz, this will enable us to close the Crossroads
5l24/2010 -
Page 2 of 2
facility and shift the staff from that facility to Kent. We hope to also send some animals in north King
County to PAWS in `Lynnwood which will reduce the number of animals in the Kent Shelter:
Other future plans include:
. We have just initiated an upgrade to our shelter management system software, Chameleon. We
expect to complete this by the end of July. The upgrade will enable us to hack animal care must
more effectively.
. We will begin using about $130,000 in donated funds to improve animal care; especially for those
with extraordinary medical needs and, also, to better assess animals upon intake to the shelter:
Through a new position; we will also increase our fund raising efforts which will inake more -
funds available.on an on-going basis.
. We will increase and improve our management capaciTy to track, monitor and improve animal
care. In particulaz, we will develop mare consistent and cleaz procedures to guide staff in their
animal eare responsibilities,
. We will institute a flexible intake/adoption policy that, when shelfer populatiori increases during. the summer;' will enable us to somewhat limit intake while increasirig adoptions, principally
through reduced or eliminated adoption fees and conducting more adoption eyents.
. We want to inerease the number ofpartnership's with have with otlier organizarions like rescue `
groups, private shelter and feral cats groups to better manage the overall animal populafion, and to
increase the number of placements of ariimals in appropriate homes or other settings. . We plan to engage outside.experts during the fa11 or winter to objechve review the progress we
have made but, also; identify the aciditional improvements that are needed.
. We plan to work closely with the Gities/County Regional Animal Services Advisory Committee
on future improvements that are needed in the shelter; field and relative to licensing.
Hope this is helpful.
As I mentioned, I will not be able to stay for the entire tour due to a medical appointment but Glynis
Frederiksen, our operations manager, will be directing most of the tour anyway. Sharon Hopkins, the
head of the Public Health Departments veterinarian program will also be available. Thanks. ,
' Ken -
5/24/2010