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Animal services asks for staffing support as low-cost spay/neuter clinics begin
Summary
Office of Animal Services described a FY26 same-services budget increase and a cautious rollout of a low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic; staff asked the committee to keep prior council funding and to add a $30,000 pet-food bank request to the reconciliation list while highlighting staffing gaps.
Office of Animal Services staff told the Public Safety Committee the county executive recommended a FY26 operating budget increase of $502,521 (about 4.79%) for Animal Services, largely a same-services budget. Staff described program changes underway, including a phased rollout of a low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic that began March 1 with two clinics monthly but is limited by staffing and screening capacity.
The department urged retention of council-added funding for sterilization and described the challenges of staffing the clinic: the operation is running two clinics per month and often cannot fully staff or screen animals for surgery, so scheduled slots sometimes result in far fewer surgeries than planned. Animal Services asked the committee to add a $30,000 item for a pet-food bank to the reconciliation list to support residents who need emergency pet-food assistance.
The committee discussed staffing levels and the Maddie's Million Pet Challenge recommendations that national best practices would call for about 24 animal-care attendants (ACAs); the shelter currently operates with 15. Council members suggested funding tranches to hire additional ACAs (committee noted a midpoint annual cost of about $83,000 per ACA plus benefits). Members asked for a follow-up update after several months to assess rollout and potential scaling.
Committee recommended adding the $30,000 pet-food bank request to the reconciliation list and agreed to consider phased staffing increases subject to budget tradeoffs.
