The City of Seattle is planning on its first major update to animal welfare laws since 1985! Your involvement and actions will be important in 2025. We want this to be a public process with full transparency.
Did you know that Seattle:
Does not ban cat declawing while Tacoma does?
Lags behind peer cities Vancouver, Portland, and San Francisco in off-leash areas?
Has a legal code with animal welfare laws dating back to the 50s and 60s?
Employs only 13 animal control field officers for a citywide population of 797,700 (or 1 field officer per 61,000 people)?
Accepted approximately 3,000 animal intakes at its municipal shelter in 2023 alone with only 10 animal care officers on staff (or 1 care officer per 300 animal intakes)?
Spent 71 percent of SAS’s budget on labor costs in 2023 while only 1 percent was spent on food and other care items for animals?
Solicits Giving Tuesday donations for the Seattle Animal Shelter even though it is a government entity that should already be funded by taxpayer dollars?
What can I do?
Over the last few months, we’ve received questions about what citizens can do to help animals. Here are a few initial action steps to get ready for 2025. (And they are all free!)
Invite folks to visit our blog and sign up for our mailing list. We post articles and send monthly updates on our work. We will also be utilizing our mailing lists in 2025 to send out more frequent action alerts and to organize advocacy with our local government. You can sign up at https://www.seattleanimalwatch.org/ (remember to scroll down!)
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SeattleAnimalWatch. We post our work and other news that affects Seattle’s animals. Share our posts!
Tell us your concerns. What concerns do you have about animal welfare in Seattle? Contact us and let us know. We are developing our 2025-2026 advocacy strategy and we want to hear from citizens and advocates.
Tell us about your organization. Do you belong to an animal welfare group that is either located in the city or works with Seattle’s animals? Do you support or volunteer? Would the group be interested in an interview with SAW? We want to get the front-line perspective of those who are working directly or in support of Seattle’s animals!
Sources:
Seattle Animal Shelter Intakes, 2023, obtained via public disclosure request
Seattle Animal Shelter Expenses, 2023, obtained via public disclosure request
Support the Seattle Animal Shelter on Day of Giving solicitation email, December 3, 2024