Animal Care & Protective Services’ new chief tackles overcrowded shelter, branding

Staffing concerns, an over-capacity shelter, and questions about animal control officer response times are all issues Animal Care & Protective Services has dealt with in the past.

Now the department’s new chief looks to tackle it all.

Chief Michael Bricker came to ACPS in September and sat down with Action News Jax’s Robert Grant one-on-one.

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We first reported on staffing questions (Jacksonville animal control staffed at a quarter of state recommendations – Action News Jax) after an apparent lag time in animal control officers responding to calls for service, like a pack of aggressive dogs in Southside Estates that took days to remove from the neighborhood after killing several pet cats (Pack of aggressive dogs captured in Southside Estates, surrendered to ACPS – Action News Jax).

According to the Florida Animal Control Association, there should be at least one animal control officer for every 18,000 people. Using the latest census data in Jacksonville, that would mean a staff of about 50 officers. But right now, ACPS is budgeted for 15. Chief Bricker said that’s about nine calls a day per officer.

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“Yeah we could do a lot of things with 50 officers. But our roles and responsibilities — we are doing that with 15. I think there’s some additional things we could do with more staff,” Chief Bricker said. “What we’re doing now is figuring out what our priorities are. How we’re going to get out to those calls, then we’re debriefing.”

The city also noted that the Florida Animal Control Association also states that budget, population density, and severity of the problem go into its staffing formula.

ACPS had a budget of $4.8 million and recently got a 13% raise to $5.4 million in the 2023-24 budget. Most of the money was already earmarked for salaries and Chief Bricker said he would use funding not for response out on the streets, but rather for what’s happening inside his shelter.

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“I would use that in a way that’s going to get more animals out of our facility.”

As of the end of October, there were 320 dogs at ACPS with only 264 kennels. That’s 56 dogs over capacity which means some are forced to double up.

“This is happening nationally — more dogs are coming in than are going out.”

The chief said the biggest issue is visibility, with many neighbors unaware ACPS even exists. He said creating more adoption events and working on marketing remains top priority.

“Anything we can do to get the dog or cat from out of that cage and into someone’s home.”

Chief Bricker said the best way you can help is by adopting or even volunteering. There’s a program specifically where you can even watch a dog just for the day.

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