BurienCARESLogo2by Jack Mayne Once controversial, the CARES Animal Control agency told the Burien City Council they now handle all calls about cats where once they did not, and one Councilmember said they “have done a fantastic job.” The Council also heard about needing to raise more money for projects of the Burien Arts Commission and issued proclamations on a retiring city official and declared December as “Impaired Driving Prevention Month” during its study session Monday night (Nov. 23). More animals taken in Debra George, executive director of CARES, told the Council that the agency has received over 1,085 phone calls so far this year concerning a wide variety of strays or found and lost animals, compared with 1,222 for all of 2014. The agency also took over 275 calls for found, lost and stray cats, an area CARES once did not service. George said they agency now takes in all stray cats. George’s report said CARES’ dog intake for the year is up 25 percent; cats up 40 percent with a low euthanasia rate of 3.9 percent. Her report showed it has taken in 244 dogs so far this year, compared with 260 for all of last year. These are dogs “surrendered” by owners, plus strays and a few seized by CARES for a variety of reasons. So far in 2015, CARES has taken in 51 cats, mostly from people giving them up or strays, her report said. Adoptions of dogs or returning lost ones to owners totaled 242 this year, and 110 cats. Dog adoptions is “what we are most proud about,” George said, noting they are a Burien-based agency and able to return them “by a far greater percentage than other community based organizations.” CARES also picked up a variety of critters found dead on roads, including 18 opossums, 14 cats, 21 raccoons and 13 squirrels. So far this year, 93 dead animals have been found and picked up, fewer than the 167 total the year before. Animal control officer Alex Hughes said the national average for stray dogs being returned to their owners is “about 20 percent … and for cats it’s extremely low, about 2 percent,” while CARES had a return rate in 2014 of 58 percent in 2014 and 75 percent for this year. For cats a 5 percent return rate last year is up to 7.75 percent for this year. The agency reports it has two full time animal control officers, and over 120 volunteers. It spent $22,000 so far this year on veterinarian services and sold 390 city pet licenses, bringing in over $17,000 in pet license fees and fines. It also got $56,200 in revenue from pet adoptions and donations. After the report, retiring Councilmember Gerald Robinson said “for the criticism you have gotten over the years, I think you guys have done a fantastic job with operating our own animal control system instead of being part of this massive King County thing where your animal control officer might be in Enumclaw or Vashon Island when you need them.” WSF-2015-POSTCARD-final-1 Burien Arts out of money When its current project is finished, the Burien Arts Commission will be broke and in need of funding and new projects, the commission told the Burien City Council. The Council has been inviting various city advisory groups in to meet during study sessions and this week it was the Burien Arts Commission, which the city says its “role is to advise and make recommendations to the City Council regarding the improvement and furtherance of artistic activities within the City.” Gina Kallman, the city’s cultural arts supervisor, told the session that the city’s goal of financing some art pieces is to “enhance the pedestrian experience and create a unique sense of space while contributing to the City’s identity and pride.” It also sponsors events that attract “large numbers of people,” such as concerts in the park and the Wild Strawberry Festival, which are free of charge and accessible to people of all economic levels and from all cultures, Kallman said. The city provides funds for five programs – the Moshier Arts Center, the Arts Commission, arts and culture grants, public art and special community events, she said. Arts Commissioner Shelley Brittingham said the commission was created by the city in 1998 to advise and make public arts recommendations to the Council. A fund from capital improvement projects was used for the original $51,000 budget, Brittingham said. The Commission has spent $21,000 on five permanent art pieces and had $30,000 left for new projects in the 2016-17 biennium and the plan was to spend $20,000 for public art at Seahurst Park, Brittingham said, and the final $10,000 for maintenance of the art purchased. Seahurst grant rejected Brittingham said they sought a national grant to buy the Seahurst art, but the grant was not approved. “There are not many other sources for public funding of local parks other than our own jurisdiction,” she said. When the money is gone, she said there are no more known revenue sources and the commission was researching what other cities do and she hoped the Arts Commission and the Council will have a discussion about the future of the program. “The fund will go down to zero and we are interested in finding out and having a good, robust discussion about the future of that funding and how we might go about creating more funding for public art,” Brittingham said. Lafreniere retires Michael Lafreniere, retiring after 10 years as Executive Director of the City’s Parks Department, was presented with a proclamation thanking him for his service. The proclamation said that “during his tenure the City of Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department has achieved significant accomplishments in programming, revenue growth and capital projects, for which the City has received several state, national and local awards for excellence and innovation,” and he “served as a role model and has consistently exemplified professionalism, innovation and dedication in his work with the City staff, the City Council, and the community.” Remembering James Nolan The Council also declared December as “Impaired Driving Prevention Month” to remember the DWI death of James Nolan on Jan. 1, 2014. “Nolan was actively involved in the community through his activities at the Olympic Boys and Girls Club and the Evergreen Community Pool,” the city proclamation said, adding “Whereas, the City of Burien would like to call attention to the deadly consequences of impaired driving caused by driving while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or while texting and using cell phone …”]]>

Senior Reporter Jack Mayne passed away in December, 2021. In his honor we have created the Jack Mayne Journalism Scholarship.

12 replies on “CARES now handles all stray, lost cat reports, is lauded for doing ‘fantastic job’”

  1. There was also an update and discussion on where Burien is with regards to incorporating much needed Low Impact Development standards into the city codes. LID says, essentially, that post construction storm water runoff has to mimic the pattern of pre construction runoff. This has to be done by the end of next year and will affect all new construction.
    It seems to me this is at least as important as knowing how many dead possums CARES picked up.

    1. Low Impact Development standards might be important to a builder and a few others, but there are a lot more people interested in the care and lodging of lost and strayed pets. Besides, CARES has gotten a lot of bad press and it was time they got some good words. I know that some people just dislike CARES and never will like them. My job is to tell both sides and not just “your” side.

      1. Please don’t assume you know my side. I didn’t say anything bad about cares and have volunteered there myself. I agree it has gotten some bad press that it didn’t deserve and it is doing a good job in spite of that.
        LID will affect almost all construction and significantly improve storm water quality. Environmental protection may not be your side, but many of us think it is important and that even handed press coverage would include it.

        1. I am very interested in low-impact development and applaud the city council for it’s intention to provide flexibility for developers in it’s implementation. I realize that CARES is important as well but I agree with Lee that LID should get some coverage.

  2. What is CARES doing to help with the huge feral cat issue in Burien? As a rescuer, I still cringe every time I get a call about a stray or feral cat in Burien. Historically CARES has not been any help with getting ferals spayed/neutered or relocated to barn homes if needed because it is “not in our contract.”

    1. The agency also took over 275 calls for found, lost and stray cats, an area CARES once did not service. George said they agency now takes in all stray cats
      Marianne can you explain the difference between a feral cat and a stray cat any cat can be afraid of human contact.
      Also in the 25 to 30 years of living in the burien area I still have not seen a huge amount of feral cats. I mean most cats might hang out in vacent yard if they live close by or a yard without a dog. But usually it’s a neighbour cat not a feral or stray. Also in dealing with cats that have had kitten’s you can always call a local pet store they will usually take any kitten’s your having a difficult time getting rid of .

      1. Jimmy-I wonder what advice CARES gave to the 275 callers asking about those lost, found, and stray cats? I know in the past if the same person tried calling CARES ten times before talking to a live person, it counted as ten rather than one call. Anyway, I will tell Burien residents calling about stray cats to give CARES a call, although I worry about what happens to cats they take in. CARES has fudged numbers before. The last two phone calls I took from Burien residents needing help with stray or feral cats, said that CARES was useless. These were calls within the past month.
        Thank you KateBB for the information on telling apart stray and feral cats.
        I can quickly think of at least seven feral colonies in Burien, with between five and 30 cats each, that I have trapped at in the past four years. You don’t see them because feral cats don’t want to be seen. They are there though.
        Thankfully very few pet shops take cats and kittens from the public anymore. That is the job of a shelter/rescue group that cat examine, vaccinate, treat for parasites, viral test, and most importantly, spay/neuter, before placing for adoption.

        1. See Marianne What I am guessing is that CARES is now accepting cats from burien citizens not from a person that runs their own business of catching stray or feral cats. This where you are having a problem and because they have a voice mail system setup so they don’t have to have someone sitting next to phone 24hrs a day (oh my technology) . Now you want to make claims of your concerned in the advice they are giving people why because oh no their not king county they can’t know how take care of cats oh no they cant have a shelter of there own http://www.buriencares.org/about/. This article is about how cares is doing better and you still are trying to trash talk about them. When you run a competing business ummm ok whatever sure theres not problem with that at all.

          1. Jimmy, are you for real? Or are you just one of those internet trolls who must start an argument with everyone who disagrees with you? I’m new to this blog but your posts seem ignorant and borderline incoherent.

  3. Oh my where to start with thoughts on this post!? Perhaps firstly, is to thank you Mr. Mayne for your continued coverage of all the many ‘feral’ stories of Burien! I so appreciate your in depth coverage of how CARES has improved their service. Bravo to them and to you for reporting on this and several other important items that were talked about at that meeting.
    I also hear what Lee and Charles are asking about with the changes in the LID standards and agree that these changes are of interest, too.
    None the less, I get that short of a post that is as big as a Black Friday Seattle Times Paper, a reporter has to edit ‘somewhere’ to get the news out for the people! Please keep doing this for us! You are appreciated!

  4. Concerning Jack Mayne’s report that Burien Arts says it is out of money. He is referring to the Burien Arts Commission, an advisory committee to the city of Burien.
    The Burien Arts Association,of which I am a trustee and secretary, is also frequently referred to as Burien Arts. We are not out of money, but as a nonprofit that runs a fine-arts gallery in Olde Burien and hosts a classic jazz festival, Shakespeare in the Park, student workshops and many other arts programs, we can always use generous donations. Thanks to all who supported us at our big annual fundraiser, Vision 20/20 on Nov. 21.

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