Island County cuts animal control funding, sparking public safety backlash

Island County commissioners have frozen funding for the county’s second animal control officer after the Camano Island post opened up, drawing more than a dozen speakers to the boardroom and a petition that had 581 signatures by Monday morning.

Donna DeBonis, a veterinarian who leads Animal Advocates of Island County, has been pushing the county to refill the position. She says the county needs enough capacity to respond before neglect cases, bites, or cruelty complaints escalate. Volunteers with Bring ’Em Home Whidbey also shoulder part of the load by helping reunite residents with lost pets and returning about 100 animals a year.

Under Washington law, animal-control officers enforcing cruelty laws have law-enforcement-like powers and restrictions, and Island County’s revised animal welfare code, adopted in October 2023 after a North Whidbey cruelty case involving Kristi L. Finch, gave the county tougher kennel licensing rules, higher penalties, and broader seizure authority. The Washington Supreme Court recognized the connection in 2022, and DeBonis tied the issue to domestic violence, arguing that weak animal enforcement leaves warning signs unchecked.

The county had rebuilt its animal control program in March 2024 after a year-and-a-half vacancy, hiring Tammy Esparza for Whidbey Island and Dylan Shipley for Camano Island. At the time, Sheriff Rick Felici said the department had been working with very few applicants and was moving toward 24/7 coverage. The earlier overhaul covered dog bites, loose animals, criminal animal abuse and negligence cases that deputies had been handling while the program sat vacant.

Commissioner Jill Johnson said the county has to weigh animal control against election workers, deputies investigating domestic violence and other crimes, and other core services. Commissioner Janet St. Clair said she had initially supported adding the Camano officer, though she also said the post had been underused and other counties are facing similar fiscal pressure.

In December 2025, commissioners adopted a one-tenth of 1% criminal-justice sales tax expected to raise nearly $2 million a year, but also froze all new positions until they could be reassessed in June.