Mission Statement

The mission of Oakland Animal Services is to improve the lives of people and animals in our community by assisting injured wildlife, facilitating adoption of shelter animals, supporting guardians of companion animals, combating animal cruelty and neglect, and when needed, serving as the safety net for the neediest animals living in the City of Oakland.

Learn more about who we are and what we do here.

SERVICE IMPACTS & EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS

Reductions

Clean, healthy, sustainable neighborhoods

1. Freezes vacant 1.0 FTE Animal Control Supervisor and continues to freeze vacant 1.0 FTE Animal Control Officer. Also reduces O&M budget for external veterinary care by $210,000 over the two years. The Animal Control Officer position was frozen in the FY 2022-23 MidCycle Budget. With one less Animal Control Officers (ACOs), services will remain at the current level, with the office possibly not being able to respond to reports of unconfined stray animals during standby hours (9:30pm-7:00am). Freezing the Animal Control Supervisor will result in less direct support for the Animal Control Officers. While the O&M budget is designated for external veterinary care for spaying and neutering, staff have used this budget to support low-income residents, including unhoused residents, in getting other types of care for their animals.
   • Equity Consideration: Maintaining the current capacity of the Animal Control function at Oakland Animal Services may result in staff not being able to meet higher demands for services from Oakland residents. Requests for animal control predominantly come from Oakland neighborhoods that are majority Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Reducing the O&M budget would result in the office reducing or eliminating the community support it offers to low-income and unhoused residents in getting free care for their animals.

SIGNIFICANT BUDGETARY CHANGES

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

POSITION INFORMATION