King County is now in Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee’s “Safe Start” plan, another step forward as we work to carefully and gradually recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our focus at Regional Animal Services of King County continues to be helping people and pets safely as our region emerges from the public health emergency.

Many of our services can be accessed online or by phone from the comfort of your home, including animal control response, lost and found pet services, and pet licensing. Phase 2 allows many businesses and service providers to assist in-person customers, such as potential pet adopters, at 50% of their normal indoor capacity. However, for those interested in adopting a pet from RASKC, we will continue our Adoptions by Appointment program for now, and all adoptions will continue to be based out of our Kent location.

To schedule your appointment, visit kingcounty.gov/AdoptAPet and follow the steps below.

1. View listing of adoptable animals: Scroll through our list of available pets. If you are interested in a pet that is currently being cared for in a foster home, please follow the steps for Foster Process.
2. Schedule your appointment: If you’re interested in meeting a pet at the Pet Adoption Center in Kent, select a date and a time to visit with our furry friends. These appointments are typically an hour long (30 minutes to meet and greet with up to three pets, followed by 20 to 30 minutes of adoption paperwork).
3. Meet and greet with shelter pets: Upon arrival, depending on who you are visiting — cat or dog — you’ll be brought to either a colony room or meet and greet room. If weather permits, dog meet and greets may also take place in our enclosed play field. For the first thirty minutes of your visit, let us know what available pets you are interested in meeting (this may be limited to no more than three pets) and we’ll bring them to you.
4. Go home with your new best friend! Successful match? We’ll take the next half hour of the appointment to process your adoption, including answering any first-time pet adoption questions.

Please note that we have a limited number of appointments available each day, and we apologize if the date and time you prefer isn’t available. We take care to clean and sanitize our facility regularly, including meet-and-greet areas after each appointment. We use a hospital-grade disinfectant, widely used in the animal care industry, to clean kennels, floors, and walls. We also routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the shelter workplace such as workstations, counter tops, and doorknobs.

We continue to ask all visitors to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer frequently, and especially before and after interacting with animals. We also ask that you wear a face covering during your visit as recommended by public health officials, and to maintain six feet of physical separation from other people whenever possible. Our team will limit the number of customers in lobby and adoption areas to help with social distancing.

We are honored to be of continued service to our communities, and we thank you for your support of animals. If you need further information or have questions, please contact RASKC at 206-296-7387 (PETS) or pets@kingcounty.gov. For information about Phase 2 of the Safe Start plan, visit kingcounty.gov/safe-start.