Salt Lake County Mayor
Salt Lake County is experiencing what you might call a paradigm shift or, more informally refer to as an "aha!" moment.
In Salt Lake County's Division of Animal Services we have a small group of individuals who are committed to providing high quality service through enlightened programs that are designed to increase adoption and decrease the euthanasia of healthy domestic pets that are lost or abandoned. The division handles more than 10,000 animals each year.
The county 'Pit Crew' is a ground breaking program that focuses on responsible ownership and changing the image of pit bull type dogs in the community. The program has blossomed into a very successful partnership with Best Friends Animal Society and balances enforcement, education, training and spay/neuter resources for dogs in the community.
The county Free Cat Adoption and Trap/Neuter/Return programs have been tremendously successful in lowering the cat euthanasia rates from traditional rates of 80-90 percent at some shelters to 40 percent for County Animal Services.
Strong relationships with the community, local rescues, volunteers and groups like Best Friends Animal Society and No More Homeless Pets in Utah is critical to the agency's efforts and success.
New programs and initiatives have produced amazing results for our agency and each month seems to bring a new success story or broken record. The first quarter of 2010 turned out to be the lowest first quarter euthanasia rates ever for Animal Services and far below the state averages. That trend appears to be holding true for second quarter as well. With a live release rate of over 88 percent for dogs and over 60 percent for cats, County Animal Services is proving that euthanasia simply does not have to be the outcome for lost and abandoned pets in our community.
Shawni Larrabee's leadership of the division and the amazing work done by the staff at Animal Services is drawing national attention to the positive things happening in Salt Lake County.
Just this spring the Division of Animal Services was recognized in Utah with a Best Of State award. You can read more at www.bestofstate.org. The programs and staff at Animal Services and their programs have also received national recognition with articles in USA Today and NACA News (National Animal Control Association).
The first priority for any animal entering the shelter is to try to find the owner. A pet with a microchip and a license has the best chance of being returned to its owner. To make pet licensing as convenient as possible Animal Services has also just made pet licensing available online. Everything you need to know about the licensing process can be found at the Animal Services' website www.slcoanimalservices.org.
Salt Lake County is a great place to live, for humans and their best friends.
