Even adoptable pets dying to make room

On the walls of the Everett Animal Shelter, there are pictures of puppies and kittens, and stories of injured dogs that were saved and rehabilitated.

There are also two white boards — one for dogs, the other for cats — that show some of the shelter's statistics: the number of animals housed, the number adopted, the number of strays returned to their owners.

And the number of dogs and cats euthanized.

The white boards, shelter officials say, illustrate a growing problem for Snohomish County: too many stray and deserted pets, and not enough room to keep them all.

Everett's is the only shelter in the county that never refuses to take an animal from the cities it contracts with, whether the animal is a stray or one from a family that doesn't want to take care of it anymore.

As a result, the Everett Animal Shelter, which was designed to care for about 3,500 animals a year, now takes care of nearly 9,000 a year, said Bud Wessman, the shelter's director.

The crowding is partly reflected in the white-board column recording the numbers put to death: about 22 percent of dogs brought to the shelter and about 40 percent of cats.

About half of the animals euthanized are deemed not adoptable — they're sick, injured, feral or aggressive, Wessman said. Another one-fourth are euthanized at the owners' requests.

But the shelter euthanizes some animals simply to make room for new arrivals.

Currently the shelter puts to death about 3,000 animals a year, about 750 strictly to create space for incoming animals, Wessman said.

"It's unfortunate. We wish we didn't have to do it this way," Wessman said.

Seeing the problem, Everett City Council President Brenda Stonecipher recently appointed herself and Councilmen Mark Olson and Arlan Hatloe to try to find a solution to the shelter's capacity woes.

The group has met once and has another meeting scheduled for the end of this month, Stonecipher said.

The problem, as she sees it, is that Everett has taken on a countylike role with its animal shelter.

The shelter contracts with eight cities, the county and the Tulalip Tribes to shelter and adopt out stray and deserted animals. In addition, the shelter has offered contracts to three other cities, Wessman said.

The Progressive Animal Welfare Society in the Lynnwood area has contracts to take strays from Lynnwood, Brier and unincorporated South Snohomish County, but it won't take animals that aren't strays or aren't adoptable. If space and resources are available, it does take in surrendered animals that aren't immediately adoptable, but can be rehabilitated until they are adoptable.

A private company contracts to take strays from Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace.

The Everett shelter, which moved into its current building eight years ago, started contracting with cities and the county because at that time it had extra space, Wessman said.

The shelter is paid a flat fee — about $80 — for each animal it takes from a jurisdiction it contracts with, he said.

But as the county population grew, so did the number of stray and abandoned animals. The Everett shelter started squeezing more cats and dogs into cramped quarters.

With no other shelter to take some of the pets, the Everett shelter can't just end the contracts, Wessman said.

Stonecipher said her group will examine how the shelter came to serve so many other cities. But she agrees the city can't just turn animals away and ask other jurisdictions to leave stray dogs and cats on their streets.

"The growth in some of these outlying areas has just been phenomenal," she said. "We can't just stop taking the animals."

Enforce responsibility?

While Everett struggles to take care of so many of the county's unwanted pets, some say people shouldn't be allowed to just give up their animals.

Susan Michaels, a co-founder of Pasado's Safe Haven near Monroe, an animal sanctuary dedicated to rescue and rehabilitation, believes part of the problem is that some people acquire an animal without being committed to having the pet for the pet's lifetime.

If shelters say no to people who want to give up their animals, and if those who abandon dogs or cats on the street are prosecuted, people are likely to think harder before getting pets, Michaels said.

"You wouldn't do it to your kid," she said. "We think shelters should say no."

Michaels would also like the county to enact stricter licensing regulations, charging much higher fees for pets that aren't neutered or spayed.

Sniffing out solutions

Wessman, of the Everett shelter, hopes Stonecipher's group finds a solution. Stonecipher does, too.

"I have a dog of my own, and it just breaks my heart that we're in this predicament," she said. "I feel like we have a lot of good opinions, and I know that we're going to be able to solve this problem. This isn't rocket science."

But making matters more urgent, Wessman said, is the shelter's expected annual influx of kittens in spring.

Since the capacity issue arose, Wessman has come up with some creative solutions.

During spring and summer, Wessman sends volunteers to parks and local events to walk a dog through the crowds. The dog wears a shirt that reads, "I'm adoptable." The effort has had great success, Wessman said.

The shelter also has been putting adoptable adult cats in the Everett Senior Center, an effort that has had a 95 percent success rate, Wessman said.

Wessman hopes to expand that program to Everett's libraries soon.

During summer, the shelter will convert a couple of old transit vans into mobile adoption vehicles for volunteers to take adoptable animals to events and popular gathering spots.

The shelter also hopes to expand its foster program, in which residents volunteer to take care of a sick or injured dog or cat while it convalesces. About 30 households now participate, Wessman said.

Wessman also is throwing around the idea of a "recycled-dog-and-cat show." He envisions a traditional show with some untraditional judging categories, such as best mixed breed, longest ears and other whimsical honors. The event would have one caveat: Each animal in the show would have to be an adoptee and spayed or neutered.

The shelter is looking for sponsors and coming up with creative categories, Wessman said.

The goal would be to educate the public about the importance of spaying or neutering pets and to raise public awareness so more people will come to the shelter and adopt.

Brian Alexander: 425-745-7845 or balexander@seattletimes.com