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Proposed Terms for Island County Animal Welfare Partner Agreements

These proposed terms apply to Island County Animal Welfare Partners not covered by Island County’s existing sheltering contract with WAIF, including Ballydídean Farm Sanctuary, Critters Pet Rescue, and Bring ’Em Home Whidbey.

The purpose of these terms is to create a formal, transparent, legally sound framework for cooperation between Island County and qualified animal welfare organizations when those organizations are asked to provide animal response, capture assistance, transport assistance, temporary sheltering, animal care coordination, or related services connected to county animal response.

1. Written Agreements

Island County shall enter into written agreements or memoranda of understanding with participating Animal Welfare Partners.

Each agreement shall define, at minimum:

  • Scope of work and covered services

  • Species and case types covered by each partner

  • Mutual expectations and limits of service

  • Hours of operation and after-hours procedures

  • Dispatch and authorization procedures

  • Required law enforcement presence when appropriate

  • Transport authorization and expectations

  • Veterinary authorization procedures

  • Confidentiality and owner-communication requirements

  • Chain of custody and documentation requirements

  • Liability, indemnification, and hold harmless provisions

  • Insurance expectations

  • Capacity limits and right to decline service

  • Procedures for animals held as evidence

  • Procedures for owner surrender, relinquishment, seizure, impoundment, forfeiture, and adoption eligibility

  • Procedures for cases involving dangerous owners, unsafe properties, weapons, threats, biosecurity concerns, or other safety risks

2. Scope of Cooperation

Animal Welfare Partners may assist Island County only when the incident falls within the partner’s capacity, expertise, species scope, and available resources.

Services may include:

  • Emergency animal capture assistance

  • Temporary sheltering

  • Transport assistance

  • Veterinary coordination

  • Evidence-hold care

  • Owner-surrender intake

  • Neglect, abandonment, or cruelty case support

  • Loose livestock or at-large animal support

  • Non-dog-and-cat animal response

  • Foster or placement coordination when legally appropriate

Participation shall be voluntary and subject to capacity. No Animal Welfare Partner shall be required to accept an animal, respond to a scene, provide transport, or provide care without explicit agreement for that specific incident.

3. Dispatch and Law Enforcement Protocols

Island County shall establish written dispatch and law enforcement protocols for contacting Animal Welfare Partners.

  • Animal Welfare Partners shall not be contacted as a substitute for law enforcement response when law enforcement presence is needed.

  • Calls shall be routed through designated organizational leads only.

  • Island County shall maintain 24/7 access to qualified Sheriff’s Office personnel who can authorize animal-related action when the Animal Control Officer is off duty or unavailable.

  • An on-duty deputy shall provide animal response coverage during Animal Control Officer off-hours.

  • Dispatch, deputies, and county staff shall not tell callers that an Animal Welfare Partner will respond unless that partner has formally accepted the call.

  • Animal Welfare Partners may decline response based on capacity, safety, species, legal uncertainty, staffing, transport limitations, lack of county authorization, or other operational concerns.

4. Law Enforcement Presence and Safety

Island County shall provide law enforcement presence when requested by an Animal Welfare Partner or when circumstances indicate risk, including but not limited to:

  • Animal cruelty or neglect investigations

  • Abandonment cases

  • Owner confrontation

  • Entry onto private property

  • Seizure or impoundment

  • Animals held as evidence

  • Dangerous or aggressive animals

  • Loose livestock in roadways or public spaces

  • Volatile owners or bystanders

  • Threats, weapons, unsafe structures, or hazardous conditions

  • After-hours calls

  • Any situation where legal authority is needed

Animal Welfare Partners shall not be expected to act as law enforcement, enforce county code, seize animals, enter private property, confront owners, or assume legal risk without county authorization and appropriate law enforcement support.

5. Chain of Custody and Legal Status

Island County shall maintain clear written chain of custody for animals handled through county animal response.

Before or at the time an animal is transferred to an Animal Welfare Partner, Island County shall provide documentation identifying the animal’s legal status, including whether the animal is:

  • Seized

  • Impounded

  • Voluntarily surrendered

  • Relinquished

  • Abandoned

  • Held as evidence

  • Temporarily sheltered

  • Legally forfeited

  • Legally free for adoption or placement

Island County shall provide written authorization before any animal is transferred, transported, housed, moved, adopted, returned, euthanized, or otherwise disposed of, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

6. Required Forms and Documentation

Island County shall provide and use standardized forms, or county-approved equivalents, for all cases involving Animal Welfare Partners.

Required forms shall include, at minimum:

  • Case Animal Intake Checklist

  • Transport Vehicle Log

  • Animal Cruelty Case Relinquishment Form

  • Seizure/Impoundment Form

  • Legal Forfeiture Documentation

  • Relinquishment/Surrender Form

  • Veterinary Authorization Form

  • Animal Transfer Form

  • Chain of Custody Form

  • Release or Return Authorization Form

Forms should be consistent with recognized animal-cruelty investigation and sheltering best practices, including forms equivalent to those included in Victim to Verdict.

7. Confidentiality and Owner Communication

For the protection of Animal Welfare Partners, volunteers, fosters, staff, and animals, Island County shall control communication with owners, suspects, complainants, and involved parties while animals are held under county authority.

  • Island County shall not disclose the holding location of animals without the consent of the Animal Welfare Partner.

  • Communication with owners, suspects, complainants, or defendants shall go through the Sheriff’s Office or designated county representative.

  • Animal Welfare Partners shall not be expected to negotiate with owners, suspects, complainants, or defendants.

  • Confidential foster, shelter, sanctuary, volunteer, or transport locations shall be protected.

  • Public statements regarding active investigations shall be coordinated through Island County unless otherwise agreed.

8. Bonding, Legal Status, and Court Proceedings

Island County shall provide written communication to Animal Welfare Partners regarding bonding status, forfeiture status, hearing dates, release authority, and legal deadlines under applicable Washington law.

Island County shall identify a point of contact responsible for communicating:

  • Whether a bond has been requested

  • Whether a bond has been posted

  • Whether animals remain evidence

  • Whether animals may be returned, transferred, adopted, or otherwise placed

  • Any court orders affecting the animals

  • Any deadlines or hearings that affect custody or placement

Animal Welfare Partners shall not be expected to communicate directly with owners, suspects, or defendants regarding legal status, return, forfeiture, or court proceedings.

9. Liability, Indemnification, and Hold Harmless

Island County shall provide clear legal protections for Animal Welfare Partners performing services at the request of, under the authorization of, or on behalf of Island County.

Agreements shall include:

  • Hold harmless provisions

  • Indemnification for authorized animal response, transport assistance, temporary holding, and care coordination

  • Clarification of county responsibility for seizure authority and legal custody

  • Clarification of partner responsibility once animals are accepted into temporary care

  • Protection from claims arising from county-directed seizure, impoundment, custody decisions, owner disputes, or legal-status errors

10. Veterinary Authorization

Island County shall establish a written veterinary authorization process.

  • Emergency veterinary decisions shall have a designated county authorization contact.

  • Veterinary authorization shall be available when the Animal Control Officer is off duty or unavailable.

  • Written authorization shall identify whether care is emergency, routine, evidence-related, humane, or legally required.

  • County procedures shall account for after-hours emergency veterinary needs.

  • Animal Welfare Partners shall not be expected to make legal or evidentiary decisions regarding veterinary care without county authorization when animals are held under county authority.

11. Capacity and Right to Decline

Animal Welfare Partners retain the right to decline any request based on:

  • Capacity

  • Species

  • Safety

  • Staffing

  • Quarantine or biosecurity concerns

  • Disease risk

  • Legal uncertainty

  • Lack of law enforcement presence

  • Lack of written authorization

  • Lack of transport capacity

  • Lack of veterinary authorization

  • Conflict with organizational mission

  • Any other operational concern

No refusal shall be treated as a breach of cooperation unless the partner has expressly accepted responsibility for that specific incident under the agreement.

12. Implementation

Island County shall meet with Ballydídean Farm Sanctuary, Critters Pet Rescue, Bring ’Em Home Whidbey, the Sheriff’s Office, County Administration, Risk Management, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and other relevant parties to finalize agreements and protocols.

Until formal agreements and protocols are adopted, Animal Welfare Partners may suspend informal county-related animal response services, except where each organization independently determines that emergency intervention is necessary, safe, and within its mission and capacity.