King County Animal Services

Despite extensive negative local coverage of this shelter in recent weeks (and months, probably, too), the contact I have had with this shelter has left me positive feelings about it.

With such a huge population of surrendered and "found" animals, the vets and vet techs have A LOT on their hands. And my strong impression is that they do it out of sincere dedication, in contrast with the majority of veterinarians in private practice.

The latter, in my experience, are motivated by primarily business considerations, and a few (of which The Cat Clinic of Seattle is the most egregious example, to my knowldge) with maximizing profits foremost in their minds and hearts.

In other words, the vets here could be making tons more money in the private sector. But they choose to work in the public sector, where they are doing far more good than they could if they weren't.

Frankly speaking, too, I find the veterinary "industry" a scam, especially in Washington state, where vets are not required by law, as in many states, to honor clients' requests to write prescriptions, rather than charge extremely inflated prices for medications from their own dispensaries.

So, chapeau bas to the vets who work for the good of unwanted pets here or at Seattle Animal Shelter, etc.--for the common good of all!

The King County Animal Shelter is one of the few shelters that actually covers most of the cost that foster parents incur, including food, litter, medications, etc.

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I went to the King County Annual Adopt-a-thon on June 21, '08. The concrete building itself is decrepit and dark, but no fault of the shelter itself. In fact, everyone I spoke with--staff and volunteers--were very helpful.

Despite its being quite far from Seattle (two hours away via Metro!), I can say that the trip was worth it (and I, finally, after at least a couple of months of searching, have found a companion for my resident cat).

The King County Animal Control Shelter desperately needs new building. The staff is trying to do the best with what they have.

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When a foster parent was willing to take care of a 12-year-old feline who had been diagnosed with chronic renal failure, this shelter decided to defray the costs of providing the supplies necessary for its care until the end rather than simply to to ahead and euthanize the cat.

The day I adopted my new kitten here, the staff person processing my application informed that they would take care of treatment in the case that my cat had a upper respiratory infection--which they did, the next day. No other shelter I know of will do this.

The "adoption packet" includes Mud Bay coupons, an informative, entertaining, all-purpose "cat care" DVD, etc.

Lastly, this place is head-over-heels compared to shelters such as Purrfect Pals, which (1) heavily promotes itself--as the supposedly largest no-kill cat shelter in the country--and (2) has the advantages of being able to place their animals in stores like Petsmart or Petco all across the Puget Sound are .

After an animal is here ("in the system") for 30 days, the adoption fee is only $20. Cats over six years of age, at Seattle Animal Shelter, are FREE to seniors and those with disabilities. At Purrfect Pals, the adoption fee, across-the-board, is $100, license not included.

Finally, they give people who adopt here 14 days to return the pet--with a full refund--in case things don't work out. I don't know of any other shelter that is this generous.

Read my review of Purrfect Pals in Arlington, WA to read a real, related "horror story and to understand how important this is. They reluctantly--and with unwarranted noblesse oblige--agree to take back an animal if you have to return him/her:

http://www.yelp.com/bi...

Neither the Seattle or King County shelters will adopt out a cat whose health they have doubts about. This is what public trust--or serving the interests of animals AND the public (and being accountable to the citizenry)--is all about.