PERLA was a stray that arrived at Chicago ACC in dire physical conditions in September and adopted out in October. She was scared, skeletal and suffered from Giardia, so her stomach was filled with worms. She had to be in unbearable pain and the fact that CACC would not give her proper medical attention is inhumane. We don’t know anything about the adopter and even though Chicago ACC has all the information to reach them, they’ve failed to do so, despite the fact that they dumped her in a different shelter in the city, which sent her back to CACC. 

Who knows what will happen to this poor soul, and to all the others who may be suffering from these horrible conditions that CACC refuses to treat?  They are caged 24/7 and taken out twice a week for 15 minutes to see the light of day and stretch their legs.  They live in their cages, smeared in their own feces and urine, prone to misery and all kinds of disease.

We need your help more than ever.  Please email the members of the Budget Committee and tell them that CACC needs to have an audit done concerning their standards of care.  The last one was done in 2014 and that is unacceptable.  Tell them that 85% of their $7.16 million a year budget goes to pay the salaries of employees who don’t do their jobs:

Sue Cappello, interim director, earns $130 thousand dollars a year and is seldom present at the facility. Now that she’s being pressured by public opinion is she starting to show up and making herself more visible.

Three veterinarians in the facility make over $150,000 a year and can’t even deworm dogs.  It’s easier to kill them rather than have them not be adopted out or rescued.

The fourth veterinarian makes $130,000.  Five Animal Field officers make $800,000 between them, plus overtime, and take days to answer community calls or don’t show up at all. 

CACC does NOT need a higher budget, they need to use what they have properly. 

CACC says that it’s dealing with a high influx of dogs because of the pandemic and inflation. The horrible truth of the matter is that their intake numbers are 4% lower than they were in 2022 and 14% lower than in 2019.  It’s their euthanasia rates that have skyrocketed and that is because they have done nothing to try to get dogs adopted and are notorious for putting impediments in the way of people who try to adopt.  

Please use these numbers and information to write to the  aldermen and alderwomen and ask them to demand changes for the better at Chicago ACC  iI will provide a list with addresses tomorrow  Please check then