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Animal-control staffing, citations and patrol limits spotlighted at council hearing
Summary
Boston Animal Care & Control told councilors it has six field officers and one supervisor (one vacancy) and said limited staff constrains proactive patrols. Councilors pressed for neighborhood breakdowns after citations rose even as patrols declined.
At the July 30 hearing on animal-control enforcement, Alexis Traczynski, director of Boston Animal Care & Control, said the division is operating with six field officers and one supervisor and that a vacancy is being prioritized. "We have 6, officers and 1 animal control officer supervisor," she said when asked about staffing levels.
Traczynski and councilors discussed how officers are assigned and how calls are prioritized. She said officers handle a wide range of duties—from bite investigations and cruelty complaints to shelter operations and community clinics—and that proactive sustained patrols are difficult to sustain with current staffing. The department reported issuing 2,774 citations in 2025 while patrols counted roughly 1,800 in 2025, a gap councilors probed to understand neighborhood differences and reporting behavior. No staffing increases were approved at the hearing; councilors asked staff to provide follow-up data and neighborhood breakdowns for patrols and citations.
