• Is King County Going to the Dogs? [6/21/2010]
• Hope, Uncertainty Surround KCACC Closure Plan [12/8/2009]
• Triplett's Plan: Good News or Bad News? [9/28/2009]
• Change Is Coming to KCACC. But What Change? [9/23/2009]
• KCACC Fails In Animal Care As Well As Control [9/13/2009]
• KCACC Failures Endanger Community [9/12/2009]
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Vote for Change For King County's Animals

This change in power cannot come soon enough, especially in light of the recent reckless behavior by Interim Executive Kurt Triplett.  We urge all of our supporters who have not already voted to take a moment to fill out their ballots and get them in the mail byTuesday.  This is a crucial choice, because the next executive will have the opportunity to make real and lasting reforms at King County Animal Care and Control, and to finally eliminate the inhumane conditions that were exposed at the county shelters nearly two years ago.      

As anxious as we are for a new county executive, KCACC Exposed has decided not to endorse any candidate.  We were impressed by the thoughtfulness of most of the answers that the top five candidates supplied in response to our questionnaire, and urge our supporters to evaluate these answers carefully. (See responses from County Council Members Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips, former KIRO TV anchorwoman Susan Hutchison,  and former state legislators Ross Hunter and Fred Jarrett.) Clearly, all of these candidates see the issues related to KCACC in a more rational and compassionate light than former King County Executive Ron Sims or his temporary successor Kurt Triplett. 

Indeed, the responses from these candidates confirm what we have long believed.  The main obstacle to reform at King County Animal Care and Control has been the unreasonableness and lack of compassion shown first by former County Executive Sims, and then by his anointed successor and former chief of staff, Mr. Triplett.  From the start, Mr. Sims and Mr. Triplett showed far more interest in hiding the problems at KCACC than trying to fix them, and they have sabotaged all attempts at reform by the King County Council.

But Mr. Sims and Mr. Triplett are aberrations.  They do not represent the feelings of King County citizens on this issue, or the sentiments of politicians from either side of the aisle.  The support for reform shown by most of the members of the King County Council has shown us that.  No matter who is ultimately elected in November, we are optimistic that the new executive will abandon the policy of defensiveness and denial that characterized the Sims administration.  Until the executive branch is willing to openly acknowledge the problems at KCACC and in the field of animal cruelty investigations, it has no chance of solving them.  And until it is willing to embrace new, progressive leadership at KCACC (or from community partners), it will never be able to address the issues that have plagued the organization for the past decade or more.  We hope that the new executive will talk to potential community partners, carefully examine the many reports made over the past two years by experts in the field, and decide upon a course of action that will permanently eliminate the deplorable conditions at KCACC, transfer animal cruelty investigations to qualified law enforcement, and implement the model animal care and control program envisioned by the county council.

Although we are not endorsing a candidate, we urge you all to take a careful look at the responses to our brief questionnaire, and evaluate the responses.  Who has the best plan for the future of KCACC?  Who has the best record on this or similar issues?  What can we learn from the endorsements that these candidates have sought?  Finally, how does each candidate see animal care and control services affected by the county's ongoing budget crisis?

And once you have evaluated these issues, we ask you all to vote, and make the voice of the animals heard in this election.