Butte‑Silver Bow animal services manager says staffing shortage is top constraint as shelter is renovated

At a May 12 meeting of the Butte‑Silver Bow Study Commission, Animal Services Manager Lynette Hogart told commissioners her department’s biggest operational problem is staffing, and she outlined recent shelter renovations and a countywide ordinance review aimed at strengthening enforcement.

Hogart said staffing shortages leave the shelter short-handed for routine duties — cleaning, feeding, intake, phone handling and processing adoption and reclaiming paperwork — and that those limits affect the department’s ability to answer phones and meet the public. “I believe that our biggest, and most critical problem facing the animal shelter or animal services is staffing,” she said.

The shelter operates year‑round and currently schedules two full‑time staff on many weekdays and three on Saturdays, plus one part‑time employee Hogart said works about 20 hours per week. Hogart outlined the department’s labor structure: animal control officers are in the…