Humane Society hands pet licensing job to Kitsap County

The Kitsap Humane Society no longer offers pet licensing, but has instead handed the responsibility to the county.

The move will help employees at the Humane Society to focus their time on other tasks, according to a statement from the Humane Society sent May 20.

County residents will now need to mail their pet license applications to the county or leave them in a drop-box at the Port Orchard county administrative office, 619 Division Street.

While the change of hands has already happened, there is some debate about which county department should process the requests.

As an interim solution, a staff member from the Department of Community Development handles all applications. As a result, there are not enough resources to handle walk-in applications, said Tina Holguin, administrative services manager for the Department of Community Development. Also, residents can expect a delay with applications sometimes taking more than a week to process.

Factoring in staffing costs, Holguin said the county will spend more than $30,000 to license pets by the end of the year.

Those licenses however, are expected to bring in money for the county, enough to help offset the cost of animal control, Holguin said.

The county spends more than $500,000 on animal control services, said County Administrator Nancy Buonanno-Grennan in the statement.

About 11,000 licenses are issued annually.

Eventually, Holguin said, licensing will be handled through the Kitsap County Auditor’s Office which already issues other types of licenses.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.