King County Executive Kurt Triplett: animal shelter to close Nov. 1

King County Executive Kurt Triplett proposed Thursday to eliminate the county's Animal Care and Control agency by June 30 next year. He also announced an executive decision to close the animal shelter by Nov. 1 this year.

The county says it intends to open a new temporary shelter once it finds a new location, but it still plans to stop providing the service by mid-2010. It is hoping to hand off the agency's duties to one or more entities, Triplett said.

His proposal for eliminating the agency requires approval by the King County Council. Meanwhile, the county will move ahead right away with closing the shelter in Kent, Triplett said.

Closing the shelter will prevent exposing the animals and staff to possible floods later this year, Triplett said.

The county will begin working with nonprofit animal adoption organizations to find homes for the approximately 400 animals in the shelter, Triplett said. The county also is talking with several organizations to find one that will handle animal shelter services for the county.

The moves proposed by Triplett would force 32 suburban cities that now contract with King County to figure out how to pay for services themselves. Triplett's proposed budget for next year will fund the agency for six months, he said, to give everyone a deadline to transition to a new quasi-public consortium of cities that could offer animal control services.

The operation of the agency has been called into question in recent weeks after an examination by The Seattle Times showed that it typically takes the agency more than a day, and sometimes weeks, to respond to calls about dangerous dogs.

The Times found that the agency's response to calls for aid from the public has sharply deteriorated, in large part because of a 2007 mandate from the Metropolitan King County Council to aggressively pursue animal-cruelty cases and improve conditions at its animal shelter.

Last week, a Metropolitan King County Council committee demanded that Triplett explain the agency's failures. Triplett's office originally said that the executive would respond by Monday, Sept. 27, when he is scheduled to present the proposed 2010 county budget to the council.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com