Cleveland council probes spike in animal intake, asks for budget detail for critter control

The Cleveland City Council pressed the administration on the Division of Animal Care & Control’s 2025 budget, seeking a line-by-line explanation after officials said the pound is taking in more animals and spending more on outside medical and spay/neuter services.

At a budget hearing, Bruce Campbell, manager of Animal Care & Control, told the council the division budget includes about $15,000 for APL services, roughly $100,000 for additional spay-and-neuter work and $150,000 for medical services provided by West Park Animal Hospital for injured and sick animals. Campbell said the city participates in trap-neuter-release (TNR) for feral cats: cats “that are caught and turned in over to the APL…are neutered, and then they’re re released into where they were found,” he said.

Council members pressed for more detail about the “professional services” category after Campbell said critter-control work — raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, opossums — is contracted through that line. Council President Blaine Griffin requested a breakout showing how much of professional services pays for wildlife/critters versus veterinary or other contracts; administration staff said roughly $360,000 is identified for items other than critter control and estimated about $90,000 is for critter control responses.

Why it matters: Council members said they get repeated neighborhood complaints about wildlife damage and about long waits for pickups or for cage availability. Council members said they want dollar amounts to present back to neighborhoods and to judge whether to add resources or restructure services.

Key facts and figures given at the hearing: Campbell said the facility has 56 kennels total (40 for small dogs, 16 for average/large dogs) and leaves three kennels for police drop-offs; the division reported collecting 2,627 wild animals in the most recent year. Adoption fees the kennel charges were reported as $61 for standard adoptions and $21 at reduced-fee events; volunteers and Friends of City Dogs provide foster, fundraising and medical support for many animals. Campbell said the division operated about eight animal-control vehicles plus a chief’s vehicle and other utility vehicles.

Panelists and staff addressed capacity and outcomes. Campbell said the division has increased full-time staffing in the last year, filling management positions and raising the number of animal control officers; some part-time roles have been converted to full time. Council members noted euthanasia numbers rose after 2022 and asked whether that reflected intake volume, lower live-release rate, or kennel capacity pressures; Campbell said kennel capacity and sheer intake volume drove the increase.

Requests and follow-up: Council members asked for a written breakdown of the professional-services line (how much to APL, spay/neuter vendors, private veterinary contracts, critter-control runs and unit costs per trap/visit), the staffing-level plan for 2025 including vacancies, and clarification on whether fines or prosecution revenue flows back to the city when outside partners pursue humane-investigation cases. Administration staff agreed to supply the requested breakout and to review the APL’s adjudication practices if residents raise concerns.

Context: Campbell credited the volunteer arm City Dogs and Friends of City Dogs with supplying volunteer labor, foster care and fundraising that the city would otherwise not be able to provide. Council members said they want to ensure the city provides baseline materials and vaccinations without relying on volunteers to fill recurring shortfalls.

Ending: Council members said the item will return in budget reconciliation with requested line-item clarifications and unit-cost information so neighborhood representatives can be given clear, dollar-amount answers when they ask what the city is doing to address wildlife and overcapacity at the kennel.