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Animal Control Administration

Introduction

This page covers some of the general animal control administrative topics. A number of jurisdictions are regionalizing animal control services including cities in King, Pierce and Spokane County. Several contract examples are included. See Related MRSC Pages for specific topics related to animal control. Applicable statutes are included on those pages.

Administrative Organization and Procedures

  • Clarke v. Tri-Cities Animal Care & Control Shelter, 144 Wn. App. 185 (04/24/2008) - Public Records Disclosure - Contracted Services

    Three cities by interlocal agreement formed an animal control agency. That agency then contracted with a private business for the furnishing of animal control services. A citizen, citing the public records act, sought euthanasia records from the private business and from one of the cities. The business denied the request, indicating that it was not a public agency; the city denied the request, indicating that it did not possess the records sought. A lawsuit followed, and the trial court agreed with the business/city. On appeal, the court reversed. Applying and balancing factors from a four-part test ((1) whether the entity performs a governmental function; (2) the level of government funding; (3) the extent of government involvement or regulation; and (4) whether the entity was created by the government), the court reversed. Some of the employees of the business took oaths as animal control officers, and they performed police poser duties, such as euthanizing animals. The funding was primarily governmental, and the business had to follow some procedures set out by the interlocal member agencies. While the business was not established by government, balancing the four criteria led the court to conclude that the business/agency was covered by the public records act.

  • Clark County-Vancouver
  • Lakewood Animal Control Policy and Procedure, 02/2006
  • Seattle Municipal Code Section 9.25.030 - Authority of Director

Complaint Handling

Contracts for Animal Control and Animal Shelters

Disaster Planning

Animal Abandonment

References

  • Animal Control Management: A Guide for Local Governments, Geoffrey L. Handy, ICMA Bookstore - Description - This report covers all the animal control issues that local governments face and explains how to establish or update a successful, publicly supported animal care and control program. Includes several model documents: an agreement between a local government and a welfare league for animal control and sheltering services, sample reporting forms, a customer survey, a code of ethics for animal control personnel, and selections from a model procedures manual
  • ASPCA Professionals website
  • AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia (Formerly Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia), 2007
  • HSUS Animal Sheltering Resources, Humane Society of the United States
  • National Animal Control Association Resources - Some require membership
    • National Animal Control Association Training Guide Description

Last Modified: February 05, 2015
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