Stray rabbit housed for $1,248 at shelter

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KIRKLAND, Wash., April 8 (UPI) -- Kirkland, Wash., City Council members say $1,248 is too much to put a stray rabbit in a county animal shelter shared by 26 area municipalities.

The Kirkland officials say the cost of sending two guinea pigs to the King County animal shelter in Kent would be double that, The Seattle Times reported Friday. That's in addition to the $379 charged for each time an animal-control officer responds to a call.

The City Council said even though those costs are offset by pet-license fees and a county credit -- the city will only pay about $12,300 of the $315,000 cost of sending more than 100 stray animals to the shelter -- the bill is too high.

"They put them in the Four Seasons over in Seattle," one council member said.

"It's more expensive than the jails," said another.

Diane Carlson, the county's regional initiatives director, said the cost-per-animal figures are misleading because the cities aren't billed separately for each animal admission.

"They're not paying $1,000 per animal. They're paying the net cost," she said.