Snohomish County budget woes may lead to more strays

Because of a budget-cutting move in the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, PAWS is no longer able to take in strays in the unincorporated part of the county.

Instead, the animals must be driven north to the Everett Animal Shelter.

PAWS Executive Director Annette Laico said the shelter has had to turn away 34 animals since the cut was made Oct. 31.

"We have to tell people to drive up to Everett. They're not very happy. Some have been downright furious," Laico said.

She predicts the decision, currently under review by the County Council, could have "dire consequences" for both animals and humans, if people end up dumping the animals back on the streets instead of going the "extra mile."

"We believe you will see an increase in feral cat populations, more stray dogs wandering the streets, and the sad truth ... many of these pets will end up being euthanized due to lack of space at the (Everett) shelter," she wrote in a Nov. 6 letter to supporters.

PAWS is a low-kill shelter, euthanizing animals only if they're physically compromised or unadoptable because of behavior problems.

The Everett shelter will euthanize for space reasons, after animals are held for a prescribed period and have not been picked up by owners or adopted out.

More animals at an overloaded shelter could fuel a rise in euthanizations.

"To expect Everett to handle that level of increased volume is a difficult proposition," Laico said.

The move involves an unwritten agreement reached earlier this year with the Sheriff's Office.

PAWS' contract with the office expired at the end of 2002. At the time, the shelter was still receiving a flat monthly fee from the county -- $4,257.15 -- to care for strays brought in by citizens and animal control officers.

At the beginning of this year, the shelter negotiated a new agreement to receive $60 per stray animal -- the same amount the county pays the Everett shelter. (Laico estimates the actual cost of taking in a stray at about $180, including veterinary care, exams, vaccinations, feeding, sheltering, training and other care.)

In the last 10 months, the PAWS shelter has taken in 1,710 strays, and rung up a substantial bill in a county that is scrambling to balance budgets.

Susan Neely, public safety program manager for the Snohomish County executive, said the payout for August alone at PAWS was $11,700.

She advised people at the Sheriff's Office they didn't have authority to pay PAWS at the $60 rate, and that the agreement should be discontinued.

"We're down to a real resource issue," said Neely. "It's what do we have to do versus what should we do? It's not an easy decision."

Because the county is still paying $60 per stray, the savings to the county are based on the assumption that fewer people will take the trouble to pack up a stray and hit the freeway north to Everett.

"We don't believe everybody will drive from PAWS to Everett. It's purely based on numbers," Neely said.

That could leave a lot of cats and dogs wandering the streets, she acknowledges. "The problem of packs of animals roaming around -- that doesn't do anybody any good."

County officials say they hope to hash out ideas over the stray-animal issue with the city of Everett.

One proposal already under discussion is charging the good Samaritans who drop off strays to pick up the $60 care and shelter fee.

Laico said she is concerned how people will react.

"You find an animal running scared, crazy in a neighborhood, you manage to catch it, put it in the car, drive it to the shelter five or 20 miles away. You're doing your good-citizen duty, then you're confronted at the shelter with a request to pay a fee of $60 for that animal to be sheltered?

"Would you be inclined to do that?" she asks.

P-I reporter M.L. Lyke can be reached at 425-252-2215 or m.l.lyke@seattlepi.com

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