{"id":646626,"date":"2026-03-10T23:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T23:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646626\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T23:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T23:10:13","slug":"nominee-to-lead-chicago-animal-control-draws-critics-defenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646626\/","title":{"rendered":"Nominee to lead Chicago animal control draws critics, defenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

A week ahead of a vote to determine the leadership of the Chicago Animal Care and Control<\/a>, officials and advocates are tangled in a heated battle over the current nominee.<\/p>\n

Susan Cappello was the acting director of the city shelter for the last three years before being nominated for the permanent post by Mayor Brandon Johnson a month ago.<\/p>\n

Cappello\u2019s nomination has drawn a wave of criticism from shelter volunteers and animal rescue leaders around the city who cite dirty shelter conditions, high euthanasia rates<\/a> and a poorly run volunteer program. At the same time, the city\u2019s three largest animal welfare organizations have risen to her defense.<\/p>\n

Similarly, her nomination has divided aldermen.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a group of aldermen and animal advocates gathered for a news conference at City Hall to oppose Cappello\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aOne of my biggest concerns is that we really continue doing business as usual, and it\u2019s not an option,\u201d said Ald. Ruth Cruz, 30th. \u201cIf people are comfortable with dogs going into a kennel that\u2019s full of feces for days, I\u2019m not. If people are comfortable with not having a strong leader who\u2019s going to change the culture and bring change, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ald.Ald. Ruth Cruz, 30th, from left, and Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, arrive with veterinarians, animal activists and supporters for a news conference to call for Mayor Brandon Johnson to pause his appointment of Susan Cappello as director of Chicago Animal Care and Control. (Antonio Perez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, echoed those sentiments.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the advocates and volunteers who have reached out to me over time have shared concerns about the challenges at CACC,\u201d Lee said Tuesday, ahead of the City Council\u2019s Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting to consider Cappello\u2019s appointment. \u201cWe are asking the committee to hold this appointment until a nationwide search can be conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather Owen, the co-founder and executive director of One Tail at a Time<\/a>, said she has gradually noticed more animals in the city\u2019s shelter are not receiving the care they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest population of animals that are suffering right now are large dogs,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you walk in the shelter right now, there are many of them who are stressed out and very sick, and a lot of them are quite simply just going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owen said 27 local animal welfare organizations have signed onto a letter asking the City Council not to vote for Cappello.<\/p>\n

Last month, a group of aldermen also sent a letter to Johnson outlining their concerns about the agency under Cappello\u2019s leadership, including poor shelter conditions, high euthanasia rates, lack of staff and increased dog bites in the community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following the Tuesday news conference, members of both animal welfare factions attended the health committee meeting where more accusations flew. Aldermen voted to recommend Cappello\u2019s appointment to the full council, which will decide her confirmation at its March 18 meeting.<\/p>\n

At an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Johnson addressed the division surrounding Cappello\u2019s nomination. The mayor said Cappello has his unequivocal support as well as that of the City Council and animal welfare organizations like PAWS Chicago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, look, this public servant has been serving the city of Chicago for I believe 36 years,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI mean, how much more experience can you ask of someone? Thirty-six years total, 26 years with animal control and working in this position as acting for the last three years during very difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaulaPaula Fasseas, second from right, founder and executive chair of PAWS Chicago, speaks with other animal care leaders March 5, 2026, during a press conference in support of Susan Cappello, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s choice to lead Chicago Animal Care and Control. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

One of the main points of contention has been the city shelter\u2019s euthanasia rates. Under Cappello\u2019s term, volunteers and animal advocates say rates have remained too high, and some animals have been prematurely euthanized.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteers will leave on Monday night and Tuesday morning, that dog is gone. And the problem is they\u2019re indicating that the dog was euthanized for behavioral reasons,\u201d said Irene Jordan, an animal control volunteer. \u201cThere are a lot of situations where you\u2019re getting inaccurate information. There\u2019s a lot of secrecy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shelter\u2019s intake has risen dramatically during Cappello\u2019s term. Between 2023 and 2025, the annual intake of cats and dogs at the shelter shot up from 13,419 to 18,337, according to animal control data. Over that period, the adoption of cats and dogs also grew from 17.5% to 19.8%.<\/p>\n

The euthanasia rate has remained stable at around 29%, but because of the growing intake, more animals are being euthanized.<\/p>\n

Volunteers have also raised concerns about unsanitary shelter conditions and Cappello\u2019s leadership record.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of sheltering best practices that aren\u2019t being used that have been proven across the country,\u201d Stephanie Grohovsky, another volunteer at animal control, said. \u201cThere have been multiple volunteers who have written her emails with suggestions and policy changes that would make things more consistent among the volunteers, and she just takes none of that feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like her predecessors, Cappello has been operating animal control on what many agree is an underfunded budget. The agency\u2019s 2025 budget of $7.5 million was cut by over $160,000 compared to the previous year\u2019s. In an interview with the Tribune on March 5, Cappello said that this year\u2019s budget has seen an increase over 2025 of close to $660,000, which will mainly go toward increased staffing.<\/p>\n

Some of the complaints about staffing include cleanliness and dogs getting walked only once a week. Cappello said the kennels get cleaned once a day but acknowledged there are staffing vacancies. She said she plans to address these concerns once she is confirmed and has a more robust say in funding for the agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did little things along the way, making partnerships, but now we\u2019re really looking and digging and reaching out to get even more in the budget,\u201d Cappello said. \u201cThe key thing is knowing where we need to invest to make things better moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cappello said she is considering more advertising and expanding partnerships to increase the number of animals rescued.<\/p>\n

At a news conference earlier this month, representatives of PAWS Chicago, the Anti-Cruelty Society<\/a> and the Tree House Humane Society<\/a> \u2014 the city\u2019s three largest animal welfare organizations \u2014 commended her leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdoption rates haven\u2019t been as robust as they were prior to the pandemic, but Sue has done a great job of overseeing the city\u2019s largest intake facility, managing the largest population of animals and growing relationships with other rescue organizations,\u201d said Darlene Duggan, president of the Anti-Cruelty Society.<\/p>\n

Paula Fasseas, the founder of PAWS Chicago, said Cappello\u2019s collaboration with shelter organizations like PAWS has demonstrated her impressive ability to navigate complex challenges, like the agency\u2019s strained budget and high shelter intakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing outsiders is not always a solution. Bringing someone here who has had success and made a great impact \u2014 why would we change that?\u201d Fasseas said.<\/p>\n

Jerry Wu is a freelancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ahead of a vote to determine the leadership of the Chicago Animal Care and Control, officials…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":646627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818,1370,50,26738,80,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-646626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pets-and-animals","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116207408329843648","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}