Renton officials are looking at new ways to handle animal control within the city, following news that the Seattle Humane Society terminated a long-running contract this summer.

In response, the city, one of the only ones in King County not to contract with the county for animal control services, is looking to boost its temporary shelter to be able to continue its services and better house animals that have been lost.

During a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Police Chief Kevin Milosevich and Commander Chad Karlewicz, who supervises the city’s animal control officers provided the city council with three options and recommendation for how to deal with animal control in the future.

“The loss of that service has reduced our options,” Karlewicz said about the SHS contract. “it’s the hand we were dealt.”

Currently, the city of Renton handles animal control internally with two fulltime officers, as it has for more than 40 years. The city maintains a small shelter of its own and utilizes multiple organizations around the region to adopt-out unclaimed animals.

City animal control officers work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. According to Karlewicz, Renton animal control were dispatched to more than 3,500 complaints last year and dealt with an additional 5,000 calls and emails.

Renton officials also handle all criminal animal cases, deal with stray animals, handles wildlife issues, enforces animal regulations in the parks and deals with dead animal pickup, both domestic and wild.

That list of services is considerably more than King County provides through its contract with municipalities. For example, county officers are tasked with much larger service areas, do not work seven days a week and do not deal with wildlife complaints, parks enforcement or dead animal pickup.

Karlewicz said King County responded to a total of 5,000 calls last year through their entire service area, compared with 3,500 responses alone by Renton officers.

Karlewicz also detailed come of the city’s protocols, such as dealing with lost and found pets. Currently, stray animals are taken to the city’s small kennels, located at the city shops, for a 72-hour stay. If the animal is unclaimed after that time, officers take the animal to one of the other organization with which they deal so it can be adopted out to a new family.

The issue of lost and found pets came to the fore this summer when a local couple’s dog jumped form their car and was found a few days later at a construction site. City officials gathered the small dog and held it at the kennel for 72 hours, after which time they turned it over to an organization.

Soon after delivering the dog, the animal’s owners contacted the city and animal control officers attempted to retrieve the animal, but the organization had already adopted it out and determined that the dog, which was un-chipped and not neutered, would be better off with its new family.

Though it is unknown which organization received the dog, city officials have said the contract with Seattle Humane Society would likely not have changed the outcome as city policy was followed.

The city also responds to all calls of injured animals and Karlewicz said that injured animals are evaluated and if the injury is deemed survivable, it is taken to a local vet for treatment at the city’s expense.

“We always paid the bill and we continue to pay the bill,” Karlewicz said. “That’s always been the case and it’s still the case.”

As for the city’s current kennels, Karlewicz said it currently meets all standards, but admits “there are certainly some area where it could be better.”

Part of the police department’s recommendation is a $250,000 expenditure to improve and expand the kennels. Volunteers would be used to help man the facility and city animal control officers would help maintain it.

Karlewicz also said the plan would be to implement part of the city’s emergency management plan at the facility, including providing some veterinary services, vaccinations and microchipping.

Officials said outside of the initial spending, there would be no significant impact to the budget for operations and maintenance.

“We believe we can accomplish this out of existing allocated funds in the budget over a two-year period,” he said.

Karlewicz also said that the city would keep all licensing fees under this model. If the city contracted with the county, they would keep the fees.

Council members questioned the plan, including how decisions regarding where to send animals are made and suggested a paid position to monitor the kennels, but generally seemed in favor of Renton maintaining its own animal control division instead of contracting with the county.

Councilman Don Persson said he was a member of the police department in the late 1960s when the city opted to end its contract with King County and begin providing its own service.

“We could never get them to come any time,” Persson said. “Even with one person we provided better service.”

Persson praised the city’s officers for “the fantastic work they do.”

“I don’t think we’re going to get the animal control services form anybody else that we currently provide,” he said.

The council will make a decision on the matter this fall.