Chicago’s Animal Shelter Would Get $1.35M More in 2027. Here’s Where It Goes

Updated October 22, 2026

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed 2027 budget would give Chicago Animal Care and Control $9.53 million, up from $8.18 million this year. By our count, that’s an increase of about $1.35 million, or 16.6%. It also adds four salaried positions, including a veterinary medical manager. It does not add animal control officers or kennel staff. City Council questions the department at a budget hearing on Thursday, Nov. 5, and the full budget has to pass before the end of the year.

We pulled the city’s own 2027 budget recommendation files, line by line, from the Chicago data portal. We compared them with this year’s budget ordinance and with the shelter’s most recent outcome reports. Here’s what the proposal would change at the city shelter, what it leaves alone, and how to weigh in.

The short version

More money: CACC’s proposed 2027 appropriation is $9,530,803, compared with $8,177,388 for 2026. All of it comes from the city’s Corporate Fund.
A big jump in contracted services: The “professional and technical services” line nearly triples, from $289,627 to $814,780. The budget files don’t say what the money is for.
Four more salaried jobs: By our count, salaried positions go from 81 to 85. That doesn’t count the unpaid members of the city’s Commission on Animal Care and Control. The new jobs are a veterinary medical manager, three program specialists and a public relations coordinator. One deputy director job becomes an assistant director job, and one project coordinator job is dropped.
Frontline headcount is flat: The proposal keeps 21 animal control officers, 15 Animal Care Aide I positions, three veterinarians and six veterinarian assistants. Those are the same numbers as this year.
The shelter is still busy: 17,788 live cats and dogs entered CACC in 2025, according to PAWS Chicago’s report on its partnership with the shelter. That’s up 16.6% from 2024.
Your say: CACC’s budget hearing is Nov. 5 at 9:30 a.m. Hearings can be attended in person or watched online through the City Clerk.

What the shelter does, and why the budget matters

Chicago Animal Care and Control, at 2741 S. Western Ave., is the city’s open-intake municipal shelter. It takes in strays, owner surrenders and animals from cruelty and bite cases across all 77 community areas. Its animal control officers also answer calls about loose and dangerous dogs. If your dog ever gets out and is picked up, CACC is where it most likely ends up.

The department has been under pressure for several years. In its 2025 annual report on the shelter, PAWS Chicago said private open-intake shelters in Chicago “have decreased their intake by more than 40%, (4,000 animals) since the pandemic.” As a result, it said, CACC “has taken on a greater proportion of the city’s animals in need.” The report names “financial constraints and housing issues” as the main reasons owners surrender pets.

The shelter’s 2025 numbers, as reported by PAWS from CACC’s own data:

Intake: 17,788 live cats and dogs, up 16.6% from 2024 and 37% from 2023.
Live outcomes: 13,816 adoptions, transfers to rescues and returns to owners. That was the most in the shelter’s history.
Euthanasia: 3,758 animals, up 11%. That included 268 more dogs than in 2024.
Dog save rate: 69.6%, compared with 68.5% in 2024. For cats it was 87.5%.

The first three months of 2026 looked a little better for dogs. PAWS’s first-quarter report says dog intake was down 3.8% from the same period last year, to 2,217. That was the first first-quarter drop in five years. Dog euthanasia was down 15.8%, to 585, and the dog save rate rose to 73.5%. Dog adoptions straight from the shelter were about flat at 322. Transfers to rescue partners carried most of the improvement: 1,023 dogs went to 66 partner groups, up 6.1%.

Space is the constant problem. In March, Block Club Chicago reported a volunteer advocate telling aldermen that the shelter has only about 250 dog kennels, while people sometimes surrender 25 to 50 dogs a day. We haven’t been able to confirm the kennel count with the city.

Where the extra $1.35 million goes

The 2027 recommendation lists CACC’s spending by account. These are the lines that changed most, 2026 compared with 2027:

Salaries and wages: $6,289,252 to $7,021,080, up about $732,000. That covers the new positions and pay increases already in the city’s salary schedules.
Professional and technical services: $289,627 to $814,780, up about $525,000. This is usually contracted work. The budget files don’t say whether it means outside veterinary care, spay/neuter surgery, software or something else. It’s a fair question for the Nov. 5 hearing.
Materials and supplies: $22,300 to $47,300.
Drugs, medicine and chemical materials: $366,268 to $386,268.
Cleaning and sanitation supplies: $142,151 to $157,000.

Several lines don’t change. Animal food stays at $275,000, overtime at $171,131, and grants to outside “delegate agencies” at $465,000.

For context, CACC’s budget was $7,519,976 in 2025, according to the Better Government Association’s budget snapshot. Johnson’s original 2026 proposal was $7,640,468, which by the BGA’s count was a 1.6% increase with no new positions. By the time the 2026 budget passed, CACC’s appropriation was $8,177,388. By our count, that’s about $537,000 more than the mayor first proposed, after advocates and aldermen pushed for more shelter funding last fall. If the 2027 proposal passes as written, CACC’s budget would be about 27% higher than in 2025, by our count.

The staffing picture

The position changes lean toward medical oversight and programs, not more hands in the kennels or more officers on the street.

Added: one veterinary medical manager ($124,956), three program specialists ($71,772–$75,180), and one public relations coordinator ($85,548).
Retitled: the deputy director job ($158,568 this year) becomes an assistant director ($114,180).
Removed: one project coordinator ($69,684).
Unchanged: 21 animal control officers, 15 Animal Care Aide I and two Animal Care Aide II positions, three animal placement coordinators, three veterinarians, six veterinarian assistants, four dispatch clerks and 11,440 budgeted hours for hourly animal care clerks.

The budget files don’t describe what the three program specialists will do. CACC has not published a 2027 budget statement yet. Departments usually release one around their hearing.

Two things to keep in mind. First, budgeted positions aren’t the same as filled ones. The BGA found CACC had an average vacancy rate of 9.7% from February through September 2025. The executive director and a veterinary assistant job were vacant all eight months. (The director’s seat has since been filled. Council confirmed Susan Cappello, the longtime acting director, in March.) Second, some of the shelter’s adoption work isn’t on the city payroll at all. PAWS Chicago says its “360@CACC” partnership puts PAWS adoption staff on site because the city budget doesn’t pay for adoption staffing.

PAWS has also flagged one program that the budget doesn’t address directly. Its “Big Fix” program, which paid for spay/neuter surgery for 10 large CACC dogs a week, has been suspended since July 2025 because of a union grievance that is still in arbitration. In its 2025 report, PAWS estimated that about 300 more large dogs would have had surgery, and better odds of adoption or transfer, if the program had kept running.

The bigger budget fight

CACC is a small piece of a large and contested plan. Johnson presented a $17.6 billion budget to City Council on Oct. 21. It is meant to close a projected $882 million gap for 2027. The plan brings back a per-employee “head tax” on large companies and raises the city’s personal property lease tax, which covers cloud computing. The Council rejected a head tax last year. Business groups have already said they will fight both proposals, and a bloc of aldermen wants spending cuts considered before any new taxes.

Why that matters for the shelter: if Council rewrites the revenue side, departments’ spending lines can change too. Last year, CACC’s final number came out higher than the mayor’s proposal. This year it could go either way.

What you can do

Know the dates. From the 40th Ward’s published hearing schedule:

Mon., Oct. 26, 10 a.m.: Department budget hearings begin (budget and finance offices).
Wed., Oct. 28, 9:30 a.m.: Public Safety, Day 1, including the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Thu., Nov. 5, 9:30 a.m.: Public Safety, Day 2, including Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Tue., Nov. 10, 6–7 p.m.: A virtual budget town hall on Zoom, hosted by the 40th Ward. Registration is through the ward’s site.
By Dec. 31: Chicago runs on a calendar-year budget, so Council has to pass a 2027 budget before January.

Watch or attend the CACC hearing. Hearings are open in person at City Hall and stream through the City Clerk’s website. Good questions to bring to your alderperson before Nov. 5:

What is the extra $525,000 in professional services for?
What will the three new program specialists do?
Why does the plan add no animal control officers or animal care aides when intake is this high?
How many budgeted positions are vacant today?
Where does the Big Fix spay/neuter arbitration stand?

Contact your alderperson. The budget passes by Council vote, and alders are the ones questioning departments at the hearings. A short note about your own experience is useful: a stray you reported, a dog you adopted or a long wait at intake. You can find your ward on the city’s website or by calling 3-1-1.

Help the shelter now. The best help is the kind that frees up a kennel: adopting, fostering or pulling a dog through a rescue partner. The Chicago Animal Care and Control listing has the shelter’s location. The city’s Adopt a Pet page lists walk-in adoptions daily from noon to 7 p.m. It asks same-day adopters to arrive before 5:30 p.m., and you’ll need to be 18 or older with a government photo ID. Call ahead, since hours and fee waivers change. You can also adopt CACC dogs through partners like the PAWS Chicago Adoption Center, or support Friends of Chicago Animal Care + Control. More options are in our Chicago-area shelters directory.

If you’re thinking about surrendering a pet because of cost or housing, ask about pet-owner support first. PAWS reports that its pet-owner support and free veterinary care programs at CACC are designed to keep animals with their families when possible.

Nearby heads-up: Lakefront Trail repairs, and Hamlin’s dog area

If your daily walk is on the lakefront, watch for work zones. Since Sept. 15 the Chicago Park District has posted an alert that repairs will be made along the Lakefront Trail “over the next several months, … one section at a time.” Work starts on the south end and moves north, with signs placed ahead of each construction site. The district asks people to avoid active work zones. With a dog on a leash, that may mean a detour through the park or along a side path.

In Roscoe Village, the Hamlin Dog Friendly Area at 3035 N. Hoyne Ave. is still a sore spot. Neighbors complained this summer that the renovated surface was injuring dogs’ paws. WGN has reported that the dog area is undergoing more work and is expected to reopen in spring 2027, and that the Park District planned to meet with the park’s Dog Friendly Area committee. The district’s facility page doesn’t list a reopening date. In the meantime, other North Side options include the Challenger, Churchill and Walsh dog friendly areas. Remember that any Park District DFA requires a current permit tag from a participating vet for each dog. Find them all in our Chicago dog parks directory.

We’ll update this article after CACC’s Nov. 5 budget hearing and again when Council votes on the 2027 budget.