LOUISVILLE METRO ANIMAL SERVICES EMPLOYEES NEED YOUR HELP

Since 2022, the union employees of Louisville Metro Animal Services have not received an increase in wages despite inflation and skyrocketing cost of living.

The union contract was extended by one year in 2023 because it was going to expire. However, the contract negotiations have gone on long enough.

On June 12th, 2025, Animal Control Officer Seth Stivala took the stories of the union employees being affected to the local Metro Council:

 

 

 

What is at stake?

When people feel undervalued for the work that they do, they leave to find a place where they feel that they are; however, there are people who consider their job a calling. These people are the ones that love making a positive difference in their communities.

But there is a breaking point that they all face and it usually comes in the form of a dilemma:

Do I stay at a job that I love where I can make a difference in the lives of others or do I find a new job where I can better provide for my family?

The turnover rate at Louisville Metro Animal Services has not only affected the efficiency of the shelter, it has affected the employees that choose to stay and puts an additional burden on them to make up the difference.

This directly impacts the community by the amount of time it takes to respond to and intake stray, sick, injured, or dangerous animals.

Why now is the time to act?

Everyday that goes by they get closer to losing good people and the community suffers for it.

Louisville Living Wage Facts:

According to the Living Wage Calculator designed by Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a living wage in Louisville KY is as follows (in wages per hour format):

1 Adult (no children) - $21.70

1 Adult (one child) - $36.62

1 Adult (two children) - $45.77

1 Adult (three children) - $57.84

2 Adults both working (no children) - $15.02

2 Adults both working (1 child) - $20.85

2 Adults both working (2 children) - $25.51

2 Adults both working (3 children) - $30.53

Current Wages for Union Metro Animal Services Employees (source - indeed.com):

Kennel Assistant - $13.19

Veterinary Assistant - $16.49

Animal Adoption Specialist - $16.79

Animal Care Clerk - $17.48

Veterinary Technician - $17.79

Animal Control Officer I - Trainee - $18.03

Animal Control Officer II - $20.47

Living Wage Definition:

According to Dr. Russell Weaver and Dr. Ian Greer at Cornell University, a living wage is simply the minimum hourly amount that a full-time worker must earn to afford basic necessities.

What does this mean?

The union employees of Metro Animal Services are being paid less than they need to afford the basic necessities. 

The basic necessities are just what are required to survive. There is no room for saving for emergencies, education, or the future.

What is this petition is asking for?

1. Not just Living Wages for the union employees of Metro Animal Services, but Fair Wages that reflects the difficult work that they do.
2. For the city to finalize the union contract.

Here is some more information about what the employees of Metro Animal Services do:

Animal Control Officer:

There’s a lot more to being an Animal Control Officer these days.

First: Public safety is a core part of the job.

Animal Control Officers are the ones who respond to sick, diseased, or dangerous animals, removing them before they can harm people or infect pets across Jefferson County.

Second: They face the same dangerous individuals that LMPD does.

They investigate cruelty cases, take animals into protective custody, and send animal abusers to court.

And here’s the part people don’t want to think about:

Animal cruelty is directly linked to domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse.

If you overlay a map of animal cruelty and torture cases with LMPD’s cases involving family violence and abuse…it’s nearly identical.

Third: When LMPD is dealing with a case involving animals, especially dangerous ones, they call Animal Control. Because cops need heroes too.

The problem?

Animal Control Officers are still considered non-hazardous employees.

That means no standard issue body armor, even when they’re standing shoulder to shoulder with LMPD or SWAT, to clear the animals while police move in on suspects.

And that’s just the surface.

ACO’s also have to understand:

Louisville Metro Ordinances

Kentucky Revised Statutes

How to issue violations and court citations

De-escalation techniques for hostile individuals

Animal behavior, restraint, and emergency handling

And public education about pet care as it relates to the law.

Animal Care Team:

First: They’re the frontline caregivers.

Every animal brought into Metro Animal Services, whether rescued from cruelty, neglect, or the streets, is taken care of by the animal care team. They clean the kennels. Calm the terrified. Feed the starved. Hydrate the dehydrated.

Second: They’re exposed to zoonotic diseases, bites, scratches, and the trauma of compassion fatigue. And yet they show up, every shift, to make sure those cages aren’t just clean—but that every animal knows someone sees them.

Third: It’s not just “cleaning cages.”

It’s understanding animal behavior.

It’s preventing fights and injuries.

It’s using chemical disinfectants.

It’s lifting large, frightened dogs, sometimes over 100 lbs.

The problem?

They’re some of the lowest-paid city employees.

They’re treated as expendable. But without them, the shelter would collapse.

Veterinary technicians and assistants:

You can’t have public health without animal health.

First: Metro Animal Services doesn’t just care for pets. They protect the public from outbreaks.

Parvo. Rabies. Distemper. Mange.

The shelter’s veterinary team are a main line of defense against these deadly diseases that can run rampant through communities if left unchecked.

Second: This team works under pressure no private vet clinic would tolerate.

There are hundreds of animals in the shelter and being sent out to be fostered at any given time.

With dozens more coming in everyday.

Animals hit by cars, attacked by other animals, burned, starved, abused.

And unlike a private vet office, they can’t pick and choose their cases. Every injured, neglected, or aggressive animal is their responsibility.

Third: They perform emergency surgeries.

They intubate under stress.

They vaccinate feral animals.

They do all of this with unmatched compassion because they know no one else will.

The problem?

Veterinary Technicians and Vet Assistants at LMAS are underpaid and overworked.

They’re licensed professionals doing life-saving work… for wages that don’t reflect the danger, skill, or volume of their work.

Without them, the shelter wouldn’t be a shelter, it would be a warehouse of suffering.