Burien new animal care and control program will begin July 1.

The city will begin issuing City of Burien licenses for dogs and cats. Burien is contracting with a local veterinarian, Dr. Leslie Kasper, to provide residents animal control and sheltering services at the Burien Animal Care and Control shelter located at 19655 1st Ave. S.

New licenses will be free during the month of July. Pet owners can obtain free licenses at a special kick-off event. The event will take place Thursday, July 8, at 6:15 p.m., just prior to the first Music in the Park concert at Lake Burien School Park, Southwest 148th St. and 16th Avenue Southwest. Leashed pets are welcome.

Residents will be able to obtain the free licenses at the concert. Please bring documentation of spay/neuter if that applies to your pet.

Dr. Kasper will be introduced and available to answer any questions at the July 8 kick-off event.

The cost of licenses beginning Aug. 1 is $20 annually for altered pets and $50 for unaltered pets. Licenses are good from July 1 until June 30. Current annual pet licenses obtained through King County Animal Control are valid in Burien through June 30, 2011.

Senior citizens can obtain a permanent license for their altered pet for a one-time charge of $15. Lifetime licenses issued by King County will be honored.

Licenses are free for service animals with documentation. Lost or stolen dogs and cats are more likely to return home safely if they are wearing a license tag.

Licenses can currently be obtained at:

Burien City Hall, 400 SW 152nd St., Ste. 400,
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Avenue SW,
8:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday - Thursday & 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday

Burien City Hall North, 1218 46 Des Moines Memorial Drive,
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. - noon

Online at www.burienwa.gov/animalcontrol.

Burien has contracted with King County for animal control services since Burien became a city in 1993. The county has provided animal control, sheltering and licensing functions in exchange for keeping all pet licensing revenue.

The county terminated all existing animal services contracts, effective July 1, and is implementing a new regional animal control system that would have cost the Burien an additional $333,000 over the next two and a half years.

This new cost would have been over and above the $119,000 in licensing revenue per year currently collected from Burien residents. The Burien City Council voted on April 26 not to participate in the proposed King County regional animal control system.

In looking at alternatives, Burien staff talked with animal-related service providers in the Burien area and concluded that resources are available locally to take care of pets and animals.

In addition, veterinary clinics and other local providers of animal-related services could benefit economically from this new program.