Animals in Island County need our help. We have spent a year without an animal control officer on Whidbey, and many years of under-resourced animal crime enforcement.
Despite years of concerned reports from the community, a woman who was banned from animal possession in Skagit County was allowed to hoard a massive number of neglected animals resulting in two horses starving to death in the freezing cold with nothing to eat but tree bark. But behind this headline case are many of others that don’t make the news. The spay and neuter efforts of our local nonprofits struggle to keep up with the growing feral cat population. Farmed animals and dogs are reported running at large regularly on local Facebook groups. Chickens are abandoned and dogs are tethered in yards with no shelter all over the island.
We, the residents of Island County, must do something to prevent this suffering.
We ask the Sheriff to investigate and enforce animal crimes.
Washington State is in the top 10 best for animal abuse legislation. But those laws don’t matter if they are not enforced.
- Recruit two full-time animal control officers
- Give deputies the affirmative duty to enforce animal laws including unlicensed animals, animals at large, and animals with inadequate food/water
- Train all county deputies on how to respond to reported animal crimes including what the state laws are and how to determine if livestock are malnourished or dehydrated
- Allocate budget for animal emergencies so that animals can be removed, transported, and boarded in a timely manner
- Allocate budget for animal rescue equipment including a stock trailer, stock panels, cable restraints, and other equipment to safely capture large animals at-large
We ask our Commissioners to strengthen our county codes.
- Pass the proposed county code updates that have been submitted
- Establish a county animal fund, funded by all animal-related revenue including pet licensing, animal crime fines, licensing of kennels and other animal-related businesses. These funds to be reserved for implementation and enforcement of animal codes. See Clark County 8.01.050
- Define an affirmative duty of police officers to enforce animal protection laws
- Require that social service workers report suspected animal cruelty
- Add increased penalties for repeat offenders
- Establish and enforce a permanent ban on animal possession for all those convicted of felony animal crimes
- Explicitly define adequate food, water, and shelter as per veterinary standards
- Ban unattended tethering of any animals
- Require mandatory forfeiture of animals upon conviction of a felony animal crime
- Establish an animal protection and control advisory board to advise the commissioners on animal related legislation and the prosecutor on animal related crimes. See Clark County 8.01.030
We ask our Prosecutor to follow through on the Sheriff’s work.
- Prosecute those charged with animal crimes to the fullest extent of the law
- Don’t accept pleas down to lesser charges
We ask YOU to join us in signing this petition to show our elected officials that the welfare of animals in our community is something we care about.
This petition was organized by Animal Advocates of Island County, a group of 350+ residents concerned about animal welfare in Island County, WA.
https://www.change.org/p/ask-island-county-to-protect-animals-from-abuse
Brownie`s Friends 