RASKC is an agency of the King County government.

The image of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that now adorns everything from buses to park signs to our websites and social media presence represents not only the programs and government of King County, but what we strive to achieve in service to our community.

To learn more about the journey to make Dr. King our namesake and the image of King County, click here. 

(Crossposted from the King County Employee News.)

Meet Cheri! With tremendous pleasure RASKC names Cheri Tjoelker as Volunteer of the Month. In 2019 she contributed the most hours among Dog Walkers- more than twice as much as the person who gave the second-highest number of hours. In pre-COVID times, Cheri faithfully worked weekly Dog Walking and dog Reiki shifts.

A resident of Kent, Cheri also serves on our Dog Behavior Modification Team, as a RASKC mentor, classroom instructor, and Dog Team Skills Assessor. RASKC will always feel grateful for the many off-campus adventures that Cheri and volunteer Jennifer Jewell have taken dogs on, especially the extra support they provided to dog Charlie to help his foster stay be so successful. Additionally, Cheri started at RASKC as a Shelter Helper and helped in previous years with our giftwrapping fundraiser.

To read an interview with Cheri, go to our website or blog.

Meet Kaiya! RASKC is extremely happy to shine the limelight on Exceptional Youth Kaiya Xayavong, who serves as a foster volunteer. She also spent a summer working on RASKC’s Early Morning Cat Crew. Kaiya is a first-year student at the University of Washington, where she’d like to major in biology. Kaiya aims toward becoming a pediatrician.

“Volunteering for RASKC has definitely aided me in teaching me commitment and a different level of responsibility,” said Kaiya. “As a result of fostering, I have a three-year-old cat and three kittens. They all were adopted from RASKC! Each of them has very sassy personalities and love to play fight.”

“What I enjoy most about fostering is watching the animals progress while they’re in my care. It’s a very fulfilling and heartwarming process to see a baby or once-sick animals flourish when they are given some love and a cozy home.”

Kaiya has also volunteered at a daycare in Renton and at Highline Medical Center. “Each of my volunteer experiences are always memorable and helps keep me engaged in different parts of my community,” said Kaiya.

RASKC will always remember you, Kaiya!

Meet Oscar! RASKC is enormously pleased to shine the spotlight on Outstanding New Volunteer Oscar Avila. He serves as a “red” Dog Walker, which means he walks the dogs in our adoption area who are in most need of skillful guidance. In pre-COVID times, Oscar worked a weekly two-hour shift with RASKC dogs. In his mid-20s, bilingual, a rugby player, and a resident of Kent, Oscar has shown tremendous enthusiasm. He has even assisted with a Warm 106.9 “Wet Nose Wednesday” video for the radio station’s website that featured one of our difficult-to-adopt “red” dogs.

Oscar has also served as a foster parent for two community organizations- Forgotten Dogs Rescue and Must Love Corso. “I absolutely love to foster. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and joy to know how much of a difference we make in these animals’ lives," said Oscar. "I’ve been volunteering for years now, and it’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

Oscar has a 15-month-old chocolate lab of his own, named Kona. “My family is very close to each other. Growing up we’ve always had dogs- mainly small breeds. The dogs would always get closer to my mom. I grew up in Seattle in a small apartment. My family didn’t have much, but we always made it work. My parents taught be to be grateful for what we did have.”

RASKC is very grateful to you, Oscar!

RASKC commends The Whole Cat & Kaboodle, a small business in Redmond with razor-thin profit margins that focuses on the holistic health of felines by adopting out “special needs” cats who have been rehabilitated- especially cats who struggle with medical challenges, like diabetes and dental issues, and behavioral challenges, like under-socialization and aggression.

The Whole Cat & Kaboodle also provides other services to the public including consultations on nutrition and behavior, therapeutic grooming, boarding services, a cat café, and retail sales of cat-related products.   

For the past eight years founder and owner Nancy Howard has been doing incredible work leading The Whole Cat & Kaboodle that helps to fund the non-profit sanctuary of about 100 feral cats that Nancy has been running since 2000.

RASKC recently spoke with Nancy.

How would you describe the mission of The Whole Cat & Kaboodle? We work to transform the relationship that people have with their cats by teaching them how to see and understand the world from the cat’s perspective and to provide the tools to make that happen to help correct unwanted behaviors and prevent unnecessary shelter surrenders. My employees and I are trained noticers who, with the cats as our teachers, help people to understand cats’ dietary needs in order to help promote positive relationships.

What is unique about a cat’s perspective? (1) Cats are strict carnivores, so their species-specific high-protein diet needs to be based on a good variety of meat in the form of wet food and other bio-available food- not grains, not plant-based food, and little to no carbohydrates; (2) Cats are crepuscular. They are wired to hunt at dawn and dusk; and (3) Cats are prey to other predators, so this guides a lot of their behavior- even in the safety of their indoor home!

What is unique about The Whole Cat & Kaboodle? Our holistic cat-health work is cutting edge, in that we prioritize a solid understanding of cats’ nutritional needs as a linchpin transforming relationships between cats and people.

Additionally, most of my employees are young people, some as young as 15 years old, who are smart, committed, and communicative. Some of them have been bullied in school, so I very much like to help them find their voice and build their confidence with “hands on” work in an environment that is busy and mission focused.

How has COVID affected your business? Our revenues dropped 30%.  Before the pandemic, the $10 entrance fees to our cat café brought vital revenue to fund our cat sanctuary. The cat café is not open during COVID. On the other hand, adoptions have gone way up, and that’s a very good thing.

How do you regard RASKC? I think the world of King County Executive Dow Constantine and RASKC Manager Gene Mueller. They’ve both visited our cat sanctuary. I’ve worked more with Gene. He is really focused on the animals, and he is a man of his word. Though he’s a big shot in his world, he’s very accessible and easy to communicate with. Gene is always open to sharing, listening, and involving others.

RASKC sometimes brings us cats and always provides whatever backup might be needed for those cats, like medicine or transportation. Your Animal Control Officers are so good to work with. RASKC is great about valuing the small animal-rescue groups. This helps us make us be better at what we do.

Fun fact?  A person came in with his family for a consultation for their cat with problematic behaviors. He and his family have become very strong supporters of The Whole Cat & Kaboodle, and they foster cats for us. I know him as Ben, but you may know him as Macklemore! Ben, his spouse, and their daughters are terrific to work with.

Maddie’s Fund has accepted RASKC into its “No Place like Home” challenge, so we will be in the running for the $150,000 offered in prizes. RASKC will be preparing this month for the challenge that takes place from March 1- 31.

Winners will be determined based on these criteria:

• All animals in the community have identification;
• Return to Home policies and lost/found techniques are marketed to the community;
• Agency embraces a culture of Return to Home;
• Agency works with the community to help facilitate Return to Home;
• Agency uses technology to help reunite pets and owners;
• Regulations and laws encourage Return to Home;
• Animals are returned in the field, rather than at the shelter.

During the prep month Maddie’s Fund offers several webinars on these key performance indicators. These webinars are available at no cost to community members.

RASKC’s newly updated “Statistics at a Glance” webpage shows that last year close to 700 of the stray animals that came to RASKC were returned to their families. In 2019, over 875 animals were returned to their homes.

Return to Home is new lingo for returning lost animals. The more commonly known phrase is “Return to Owner.”

For over 15 years, RASKC has been very grateful to Reber Ranch for helping adopt out over 1,500 of our cats and kittens who had resided there. Since Reber Ranch began the “donation bag program” during the holidays last year, we have reason to be even more grateful for the amazing relationship with this independently owned pet-supply and food store and veterinary hospital located on Kent’s East Hill.

Since last November, Reber Ranch has been giving their customers an opportunity to purchase a bag full of dog-items or cat-items. These contributions directly help RASKC animals and provide needed assistance for families who use our community pet-food bank. So far over 400 RASKC donation bags have been sold- equivalent to about three pallets worth of kindness and generosity!

“Since 1984 when our founders Darrell and Sally Reber started Reber Ranch, community involvement has been a passion and priority for us,” said Reber Ranch Store Manager Mikayla Smith. “We wouldn’t be successful without the community that helps support us, and we recognize how important it is to give back. We have an amazing relationship with RASKC and enjoy being able to adopt cats and kittens out from our location. We get several cats and kittens a week, and they all get adopted so quickly! It makes us happy to help pets into their forever homes, and we love seeing those customers return for their pet supplies or to use our veterinary hospital. We always ask for updates and pictures of the cats who get adopted here; it’s been such a great program for us.”

“I first started fostering hospice cats, because having a long-term multi-year cat seemed unrealistic at my age. (I’m 75 years old). I find that providing a last home to an otherwise likely-unplaceable cat feels good. And yes, I would recommend it to others. It's nice to have a cat around the house, even a frustrating one.

“I have taken care of several hospice-foster cats, including Babette (pictured), who was with me for two years until she passed at age 17. I fostered 17-year-old cat Felix for six months, until he also passed. More recently I’ve been taking care of Smokey, who is 13 years old, since last June.

“Since I knew from the start that they were sick, I was ready for them to pass. Usually, they had thyroid issues, at least. People thinking of taking in a hospice animal should expect it to be high maintenance in some way; that's normally at least part of why they're up for hospice. That's my biggest piece of advice. And it's likely to be the big difference between a hospice cat and a younger one, along with an older cat's lower activity level.”

RASKC volunteer David Howerton

“Chloe is 13 years old. I’ve been fostering her for a year. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met. She was surrendered to the shelter with a few medical conditions that made her not adoptable. Our first two months were all about healing after her surgeries and getting to know each other. 

“Chloe became an amazing companion: funny, loving, and very grateful. It’s my pleasure to have her around especially during these working-from-home days.   

“I think the hospice program is one of the most remarkable and humane of the shelter’s programs. It also benefits both sides: animals and people.”

RASKC volunteer Olga Shores

“I absolutely adore my hospice foster Newman. He is the prettiest cat on Earth! On my first day with Newman, he immediately started exploring and cuddling with me! He loves to sleep next to my desk, as I work from home. 

"Hospice fostering Newman has been such a pleasure. RASKC has been so helpful with making sure that Newman continues to be happy and healthy. The staff has provided excellent guidance around how to care for a senior cat.

“I’m so thankful that I found Newman through RASKC. I could not have asked for a sweeter best feline friend. I’d highly recommend that anyone who has a lot of love to give and wants to open their home to a cuddly friend, to consider hospice fostering one of the lovely old pets at RASKC.”

RASKC volunteer Jenn Wu

“My daughter and I didn’t even make it through our first volunteer shift without falling in love with Oliver, a 15.5-year-old Golden Oldie at RASKC. We took him home shortly thereafter. He spent a few weeks hiding under the bed, but with a lot of love and patience he soon became king of the castle. He happily lounged on the couch with our dog and prowled around whenever I was cooking. This handsome senior kitty became my soul cat, and everyone who met him fell in love. He passed away at almost 18 years old, and I will always love that wise and wonderful buddy. He had the biggest, prettiest alien eyes, long catfish whiskers, the whitest fur, the brightest orange spots, and the best set of stripes I’ve ever seen in my life.

“Sometimes people would say he was lucky we had taken him home, but really, we were the lucky ones to have had him for the time that we did. I am so grateful to RASKC for their hospice program and for the love and support they gave him and us when it was his time. I wish everyone could experience the love of a senior cat, because then they would always have welcoming homes.

“When it was his time, we had Lap of Love come to our house, so Oliver could be here until the end. They shared a quote with us that is 100% how I feel about the RASKC hospice foster program:

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

         - A. A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh

“Oliver, you were one of my best friends, and I will never stop loving you. Thank you for being ours.”

RASKC volunteer Alison Weber

“Simone was only with me for three months, but I think she really enjoyed those three months. I was happy I was able to make the end of her life hopefully some of the best time of her life.  

“I picked her up on Valentine’s Day. It took her only a couple of weeks to learn to trust again, which I thought was an amazingly short period of time given some of the physical trauma she had experienced.

“I was so excited the first time she tried to jump up on the bed to sleep with me and my other kitty. Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite make it up onto the bed and fell to the ground.  After picking her up, I promptly went online and bought pet stairs, so Simone was able to come and go as she pleased. She loved this independence!  

"At 17 years old, Simone wasn’t interested in doing much besides sleeping and (some) eating, but- oh how she enjoyed the heated pet bed! She loved it so much that I had to buy another one for my resident kitty.  

“Once she warmed up to me, she loved to be close. Simone had a lion-sized purr that was one of the most relaxing things I’ve ever heard. It was almost meditative.

“Simone was tiny and regal as only a Siamese can be. When, however, she sneezed, it would shake the room. I quickly learned to keep Kleenex close at hand, both to wipe her face and any walls or furniture close by.

“I was so heartbroken when her final blood work came back and it was her time, but I was so grateful that I got to be with her to shower her with love and peace.  

“I know some people say it would hurt too much to adopt or foster an older animal knowing the end may not be far off. I can’t think of a greater gift than to be able to provide love, comfort, and security in a pet’s twilight years or months.  

“I‘ve found that caring for old or sick animals has actually been a humbling experience, and it has taught me more patience, tolerance, and gratitude than any of my other life experiences.  

“Thank you for the opportunity to be a final foster!”

RASKC volunteer Pam Gibbons

The mobile pet-food bank that RASKC participates in brought over 3,700 pounds of pet food to 104 households at an event in Renton on January 30. The needs of 99 cats and 148 dogs were served!

Special kudos to Claire Wilkinson from the City of Renton for her great work on this drive-thru.

The mobile pet-food bank is organized by a partnership consisting of RASKC, Seattle Humane, Seattle Animal Shelter, Auburn Valley Humane, Pasado’s Safe Haven, and Washington State University.

The next mobile pet-food bank will take place this Thursday, February 25, from 2pm- 5pm at South Bellevue Community Center. To stay current on when and where these drive-thrus take place, check RASKC’s webpage.

The partnership’s mobile pet-food bank serves many communities. Food, supplies, and services have been brought to Auburn, Bellevue, Enumclaw, Maple Valley, North Bend, Rainier Beach, Renton, Tukwila, and White Center so far. We will visit other cities and neighborhoods too.

We hope to come near your home sometime soon!

If you would like to make a special donation to support RASKC’s efforts with the mobile pet-food banks, please donate gift cards.

If you would like to make a special donation to RASKC, please click here for our wish list on Amazon.

Our dog program would love to receive long leads, about 20- 50 feet or longer. 

Our foster program would love to receive meat-based Gerber baby food; kitten playpens at least four feet across with zippers (not Velcro); snuggle kitties with a battery-generated heartbeat; Miracle Nipples, both sizes; and pet food or cat litter for our on-site community pet-food bank.

For more information about donations or in-kind gifts, visit the Donations page on our website.

Meet Gracie! She is a 13-year-old brown tabby (ID #A630261). This girl is an affectionate lovebug who would be thrilled to cuddle up with you at home. Gracie was brought to RASKC last month, because her previous owner could no longer care for her.

Because of Gracie’s shy nature and older age, she would do best in a calm, quiet home. Her personality color is BLUE. She is a gentle and loving cat who likes to take things slowly. Gracie may get nervous in new situations, so she is looking for a family who understands that she might need some time to warm up. Once Gracie gets to know you, she will be a very devoted family member.

A RASKC veterinarian removed bladder stones from Gracie and prescribed a special diet that will help to prevent other bladder stones from forming. Gracie will need regular trips to a veterinarian to monitor her condition.

Gracie is litterbox trained, spayed, current on vaccinations, and microchipped. Her adoption also comes with a free visit to the veterinarian of your choice and 30 days of opt-in pet insurance through Trupanion.

You can find out more about Gracie on RASKC’s website at www.kingcounty.gov/adoptapet. Scroll down the page and insert Gracie’s name. You may meet this cat and other animals by scheduling an appointment through our website. If you need assistance, contact us at 206-296-7347 (PETS), pets@kingcounty.gov.

Also look for Gracie on Instagram!  Search for #graciekingcountypetsa630261.