Joint Animal Services reports rising intakes, unveils $33M–$41.5M facility concept and funding gaps

Joint Animal Services reported rising animal intakes and field responses in 2024 and presented a revised facility concept with an estimated total cost that could range from about $33 million to $41.5 million, the agency’s executive director told the Olympia City Council on March 18.

Sarah Hawk, executive director of Joint Animal Services, summarized the agency’s 2024 year, including volunteer and veterinary-care milestones and a space-needs study that produced a preferred building concept and several funding scenarios. "This was all done with our full time veterinarian, our full time veterinary assistant," Hawk said when describing the first full year of having an on-site veterinary medical team.

The report said agency intake totaled 3,305 animals in 2024, with a near 28% increase in dogs (about 300 more dogs year over year). Joint Animal Services reported more than 140 volunteers averaging about 40 hours each (equivalent to roughly 2.7 full-time employees). In its new in-house veterinary suite, the shelter completed more than 1,200 spay/neuter surgeries, about 2,200 exams and 64 other surgical procedures last year.

Why it matters: Council members pressed for detail because the shelter’s existing building is functionally limited and cannot support additional…