LYNNWOOD – Due to decreased funding, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) no longer allows just any animal a cage to call its own.
The animal shelter has been forced to turn away stray dogs and cats from unincorporated Snohomish County, and will begin turning away all exotic animals starting Jan. 1.
Each year, PAWS has provided shelter for nearly 2,000 stray companion animals from unincorporated areas, but this service is currently being directed to the Everett Animal Shelter due to a decision by Snohomish County officials on Oct. 31 to terminate the county’s contract with PAWS, according to Kay Joubert, PAWS companion animal shelter director.
Under the former agreement, PAWS was allowed to accept stray dogs and cats without charge from residents in unincorporated Snohomish County. The county then reimbursed PAWS on a per animal basis.
Although county officials indicated that funding for this contract was no longer in their budget, their decision was confusing, Joubert said, because the county still had to reimburse Everett for the animals they took in from PAWS.
According to Joubert, the County Council listened to concerns from citizens and has recently decided to renegotiate a contract with PAWS. However, the contract will not likely come into effect until sometime next year.
According to Bob Terwilliger, Snohomish County auditor, the contract is currently being drafted. Due to the approaching holidays, he does not expect a final version to be ready until after the first of the year.
“We may not be working with PAWS until as late as February,” Terwilliger said.
Terwilliger said that although he does not believe the Council has appropriated enough money for this contract, they likely have enough to get started. Since the dollar amount of the contract is for more than $50,000, he said the Council will have to vote on it.
A second cost-saving strategy adopted by the animal shelter is the decision to no longer accept exotic animals after the end of this year.
“We have definitely felt the impact of the poor economy and donations have been down,” Joubert said.
All animals classified as exotic, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and snakes will be directed to the Everett Animal Shelter, or other area shelters, Joubert said.
According to shelter manager Eric Ofsthus, exotic animals are very expensive to shelter and require costly supplies and more time to care for than most dogs and cats.
“Many are extremely sensitive, such as tropical birds,” Ofsthus said. “Very specific care is required.”
Ofsthus said that although people may be upset when animals they bring in are turned away, shelter employees are developing a comprehensive resource list for them to access, which will direct them to the appropriate shelter for their animal.
PAWS officials recently updated their contract with the city of Lynnwood, which was approved at the Dec. 8 Council meeting. According to the revised contract, PAWS will receive an increase of 10 percent in 2004 and 3 percent in 2005. This, however, will still not be enough to offset all costs at the shelter, Joubert said.
This is an increase of $4,424 over two years, on top of a flat annual rate of $33,262, but is much less than PAWS negotiators originally sought from the city.
PAWS officials asked the city for approximately $82,020 annually, which Joubert said was a means of giving the Council a “reality check” on how much it really costs to shelter animals.
It costs an average of $185 for the duration of each animals’ visit, Joubert said, and when that dollar amount is multiplied by the volume of animals it comes close to the amount the city was originally asked for. However, Joubert said some of the costs are offset through adoptions and donations by the public.
PAWS has contracted with the city of Lynnwood for about 15 years, and Joubert said the relationship between city officials and PAWS staff has been beneficial.
“We have a very positive working relationship with the city,” Joubert said.
Everett Animal Shelter manager John DeWispelaere, who has seen a slight increase in dog and cats from unincorporated areas being referred to his shelter from PAWS, said he does not expect a great increase in animals, but expects the shelter can handle a few more.
DeWispelaere said he is not sure what effect the overflow of animals from PAWS is going to have on the shelter, or if the extra animals will have to be euthanized for space reasons. However, he does anticipate the surplus of animals to have a negative effect, which he hopes to avoid.
“If they can get the County to contract with them, it will be great for me,” DeWispelaere said.
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