Everett animals lose best friend

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, May 26, 2004

EVERETT – The retirement party for Everett Animal Shelter manager John DeWispelaere was supposed to be a surprise.

But somebody must have barked – he knew about it.

Even as the community room at the animal shelter filled with well-wishers and the cake was being cut, DeWispelaere, 55, was helping a couple unload a large, dead goat headed for the shelter’s crematorium.

As soon as he got inside, someone else brought in a baby owl that had been attacked by crows.

It may have been retirement day, but it was just another day for him.

With his bandana-wearing German shepherd mix Precious at his feet, DeWispelaere told the partygoers that he and his wife, Kim, will leave Everett for a new home in Ocean Shores.

His wife wants to travel to Europe and Mexico. “I want to buy a big TV and lay back,” he said.

“Because everything else is packed,” DeWispelaere was wearing the same uniform he started out with in 1977 – a khaki animal control officer shirt.

When he started his job, the worst problem on Everett Mall Way was horses and cows.

DeWispelaere admitted that he has probably irritated a lot of people over the years, since working in animal control is no way to win a popularity contest.

“But if you’re not doing anything, you’re not going to get dissent,” he said. “I got plenty of that sometimes, so I must have been doing something.”

“He’s a great one to consult. I will miss that expertise,” said city executive administrator Deborah Wright.

She applauded DeWispelaere’s accomplishments and strength.

“When you have to deal with people who want to bend everything you do, you have to be strong,” she said.

Though he was a dogged, strong-willed advocate for the technical aspects of animal control, he also showed affection for the animals under the shelter’s roof.

As manager, he helped orchestrate and design the building of a new animal shelter in 1997. The new building replaced the old “dungeon of a building” and gave the staff and animals a place to be comfortable.

The shelter was a prototype in many ways and is now visited by other cities looking to build new animal shelters.

Also under his leadership, the shelter lowered euthanasia rates, in part by joining forces with other area shelters to help find homes for pets.

DeWispelaere also helped start a successful program to get volunteers involved in daily life at the shelter, and get the animals out of their cages more often.

Only fellow animal control workers know best what 27 years in the business means; the daily workings of an animal shelter can be both gruesome and heartwarming.

County animal control officer Wally Barber said when he drops animals at the shelter, even he likes to imagine happy endings for the dogs and cats.

“When I walked out the door, in my mind the owner is going to come get it, or in three days it will be adopted,” Barber said. “But someone’s got to clean them, look after them, feed them and, if necessary, put them to sleep.”

For years, DeWispelaere was that someone. When he became manager of the shelter, he had to keep the public and city leaders happy, as well as the pets.

After 27 years of that, it’s time for a rest, he said.

“It’s a stressful job, and it’s not a job you can really get away from,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve been through an awful lot, but we’ve come out on the other end.”

Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.