Animal-control officer explains why he filed cruelty complaint

A King County animal-control officer says he did the right thing when he filed an animal-cruelty complaint last October against the county managers of the Kent Animal Shelter.

Mike Cronin, who has been an officer with King County Animal Control since 1983, said last week that he and Sgt. Steve Couvion, his supervisor, took the right steps.

“We made the determination that we did absolutely nothing wrong,” Cronin said.

Cronin contacted the Kent Reporter for an interview in response to a story in last week’s Kent Reporter that said the county was considering penalties against him and Couvion, after an investigation by an outside entity said the claims were unfounded. Cronin was unable to be reached for comment for last week’s story. Snohomish County Animal Services, called in by King County officials, found no evidence of cruelty in the way the Kent animal shelter was housing its cats.

Cronin filed his complaint Oct. 11, alleging inhumane conditions for cats that were housed in temperatures in the 30s at a temporary outdoor, covered shelter at the facility. Couvion signed off on the complaint.

Cronin filed his report shortly after he showed up for work at 7:30 a.m. and saw the cats outside in cold temperatures. Shelter staff worked nearly eight hours later in the afternoon and evening on Oct. 11 to enclose the temporary cat shelter and brought in patio heaters.

“It got heat for the cats,” Cronin said, noting his complaint generated the improvements. “They had to do that when the report went in.”

County officials said Cronin and his superior officer should have handled the matter differently, rather than filing a report.

“We will probably just give advice to the officer on how to do a proper report,” said Carolyn Ableman, the director of the Records and Licensing Services Division, who oversees Animal Care and Control.

Cronin filed an animal-cruelty report intended for public use, Ableman said.

Cronin said he filed an animal-cruelty report so there would be written documentation on the inhumane conditions.

“It was important enough to document,” Cronin said. “Within two hours, management brought in straw, plastic covers and heaters. People were called in on their days off.”

Ableman said the county’s review of the case should be completed within the next two weeks.

“We haven’t seen anything (for the officers) to receive discipline,” Ableman said. “There won’t be any discipline.”

It didn’t surprise Cronin that the county has no plans to take any strict discipline measures against him.

“They don’t have a legal leg to stand on,” Cronin said.

Snohomish County Animal Services, called in to review the complaint, stated there was no intent by the county to harm the animals in its care.

“There is no evidence to suggest or support there was intent to harm any of the animals in the custody of the shelter,” Lt. Gordon R. Abbott, supervisor of Snohomish County Animal Services, wrote Nov. 14 to Sgt. David Morris of King County Animal Care and Control.

Cronin said he understands the conclusion reached by Snohomish County officials because someone has to cause harm to animals to be charged. But he wanted to be sure conditions did not harm the cats, many of them fighting upper-respiratory problems.

“There was a hard frost that morning and all of the cats were outside,” Cronin said. “There was no heat, no blankets and most were on medication. There’s not another agency in the state that would house cats outside.”

That housing was meant to be temporary. Shelter staff tore down the cat area in December, moving the cats in shortly afterward to a new modular building next to the existing shelter.

Nancy McKenney, recently named interim manager at the shelter, said the main thing county officials are reviewing is whether Cronin and his supervisor used the correct procedure in the complaint they filed.

“Any reprimand will be based not about their concerns about animal care, but the process or protocol and how they wrote the reports,” McKenney said.