County’s Animal Control Handled By 3 Agencies

Three agencies are responsible for animal control in Spokane County.

SpokAnimal CARE and the Spokane Humane Society, both nonprofit organizations, currently share duties within the city of Spokane.

SpokAnimal has a contract with the city to pick up strays, sell dog and cat licenses and run a free spay-neuter clinic.

Operated by 22 paid employees and dozens of volunteers, SpokAnimal receives about $65,000 from the city as well as a percentage of each license it sells, in addition to any fees it generates.

SpokAnimal also receives donations and holds fund-raisers. Its 1997 budget is close to $1 million.

The Humane Society contracts with the city to shelter strays, attempt to find them homes and, if need be, euthanize them. It receives about $30,000 of its $500,000 budget from the city, a portion of dog license fees and any money from adoptions.

The 16-employee nonprofit organization also solicits donations and holds fund-raisers.

Spokane County Animal Control is part of county government and gets the majority of its $530,000 budget from the county’s general fund.

The department’s 10 employees take care of all animal control functions in the unincorporated areas of the county, as well as a few small towns.

, DataTimes