With King County poised to stop providing animal care and control services as soon as April, the Bellevue City Council on Monday considered alternatives.

Currently, King County provides services for many cities, including maintaining shelters and responding to calls about vicious dogs and injured animals. However, county officials have proposed ending those services due to county budget deficits and problems at the shelters.

The Bellevue council reviewed three alternatives for future service: Bellevue taking over animal care and control within in its boundaries; forming a countywide agency that would provide the services; or joining with a group of neighboring cities to jointly provide the services.

Council members spoke in favor of exploring formation of a group of neighboring cities to manage animal control and care services. This approach would follow other successful alliances the city already has with its neighbors, they noted.

If a new agency cannot be formed by April, the council asked staff to consider stopgap measures, including Bellevue contracting directly with an animal shelter.