In the April 13th edition of Letters, Mr. DeLorm stated that the previous animal control program to CARES was unsuccessful. It was most indeed successful!

Dr. Kasper started up the program in July of 2010 and had regular office hours and a 24-hour phone contact. She frequently went into the field on dog calls, took in the many stray animals brought to her, spayed/ neutered, and vaccinated them and made them available for adoption.

Her use of Pet Finders online reunited a trucker with his little dog lost in Tacoma almost a year earlier (Highline Times ran a feature story). Her policy was to be a non-kill shelter as much as possible despite the city suggesting otherwise. The many citizens of Burien who had problems resolved or adopted animals from her shelter will attest that Dr. Kasper's program was successful.

But because the city of Burien wouldn't provide adequate fiscal support or administrative support, Dr. Kasper's animal control program wasn't sustainable and she found it necessary not to renew the contract in July of 2011.

Seems CARES, a program of greater staff and better resources, as reported, hasn't been able to provide much of any service, certainly not at the level of the program it replaced if one agrees with the complaints Mr. DeLorm lists.

Also seems the city of Burien continues to lack dedication to providing its citizens the quality program they deserve.

Karen Strelow
SeaTac