LINCOLN PARK — Leaders of three Chicago animal welfare shelters are doubling down on their support for the acting director of Chicago Animal Care and Control as the City Council considers making her the department’s permanent leader.
Susan Cappello has been the acting boss of the city’s animal control department since January 2023 and has worked for the city for more than three decades.
Last month, Mayor Brandon Johnson finally appointed Cappello to become the permanent executive director of the agency, which runs the city’s only municipal animal shelter at 2741 S. Western Ave. and also completes tens of thousands of animal-related service requests every year.
The City Council still needs to approve the appointment.
But in recent weeks, Johnson’s decision to give Cappello the job has garnered pushback from some alderpeople, volunteers and animal advocates over criticism of shelter conditions and euthanasia rates at the agency.
Several agency volunteers recently told Block Club that conditions inside the shelter must improve and euthanasia rates for dogs remain too high, with some dogs they describe as adoptable being put down. On Feb. 17, a group of alderpeople sent Johnson a letter urging him to conduct a national search for the department’s next leader.
In an interview, Cappello defended her tenure at Animal Control and encouraged alderpeople and members of the public to visit the Little Village shelter to see the conditions and how its animals are treated.
“Those who are sitting behind a keyboard, listening to everybody else saying things, making their own opinion based on that, I don’t think that’s fair. You know, if you really want to know … come here and look for yourself,” she said.
On Thursday, representatives of PAWS Chicago, Anti-Cruelty Society and the Tree House Humane Society praised Cappello’s leadership at a press conference at PAWS’ Lincoln Park adoption center. They touted gains by the department during her tenure, which has been marked by an influx of cats and dogs being admitted to the city’s shelter.
“I have worked with eight different executive directors [of Animal Control]. While each had different strengths, Susan Cappello is the most collaborative, partnership-forward and always eager to find solutions to work with all of us shelters,” PAWS founder and executive chair Paula Fasseas said on Thursday.
Alds. Gilbert Villegas (36th) and Ruth Cruz (30th) are leading the charge to get Johnson to kick off a nationwide search for an executive director for Animal Control.
The pair have circulated a letter — signed by 15 other alderpeople — asking the mayor to meet an April 1 deadline to launch the search.
“We’re asking for the administration to take a pause on this appointment, to listen to the advocates, listen to the aldermen, and do a national search,” Cruz recently told Block Club. “If, after the process, we discovered that Susan Cappello is the most qualified candidate, then indeed move forward.”
The criticism comes as Animal Control has seen a sharp increase in the number of animals being taken in at its shelter in recent years. During Cappello’s tenure, the number of cats and dogs accepted by Animal Control has climbed each year, rising from 13,419 in 2023 to 18,337 last year.
The department has had to manage that spike despite being restrained by what many advocates and animal welfare groups say is a severely underfunded budget.
The 2025 budget for the department was about $7.5 million, which is being increased by more than $600,000 this year to add more staff — still not nearly enough, welfare groups said Thursday.
Darlene Duggan, president of Anti-Cruelty Society, said that Cappello’s leadership of Animal Control has provided “stability” that has made it easier for nonprofits like hers to work with the city, despite strained funding levels and increased intake numbers.
“Stability at [Animal Control] means stability for the whole ecosystem of animal welfare in the Chicago region,” Duggan said. “She has a long history not just working with the city, but working in animal welfare within the city as well.”
PAWS Chicago on Thursday also announced it is expanding two programs to help Animal Control manage intake and work with people who are considering giving up their pets.
That includes providing more veterinary social work offerings and adding pet owner support services daily at the Little Village shelter by this summer, up from the current five days a week.
Those services include the PAWS team meeting with pet owners when they arrive at the shelter to offer a range of resources before they decide to leave their cat or dog, said Savannah Hinde-Seeley, assistant director of community outreach for PAWS.
“By going from five days to seven, not only will we be able to do that for every single person, not just those who show up on the days that we happen to be there, but [for] everyone,” Hinde-Seeley said. “So more consistently, people [will] know where to find support for their pets and not having to pick specific days.”
In order to move forward, Cappello’s appointment must first be advanced by a City Council committee, which could happen next week. She would then need to be approved by the full council, which next meets March 18.
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