Since 2020, Lawrence has gone from staffing three animal control officers to one, and pressure has mounted for the Lawrence Humane Society and the public to fill in the coverage gaps.

An attack from a dog in Centennial Park recently hospitalized a 70-year-old woman and resulted in the death of her chihuahua.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing. The aggressor dog, unleashed at the time of the attack, was sent to be quarantined at the Lawrence Humane Society. It isn’t entirely clear who the owner is, according to Lawrence Police Department spokesperson Laura McCabe.

The incident has fed into broader community concerns regarding the number of stray and at-large animals in Lawrence versus animal control’s reach.

“I think we are wondering about what the future holds in terms of long-term managing — especially these more complicated cases that come through,” said Shannon Wells, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society.

Shrinkage of the animal control department

As it stands, Lawrence has one full-time animal control officer (ACO) to serve the entire city.

LHS has a contract with the county to perform animal control throughout unincorporated Douglas County, not including Lawrence. Animal control in town is routed through the police department.

The City of Lawrence does contract LHS to provide sheltering services in collaboration with animal control. Responsibilities include assisting with ill and injured animals after hours; receiving stray animals within city limits from the public and ACOs; providing food, water, shelter and veterinary care of animals received; and reuniting pets with owners or taking ownership of unclaimed animals.

In contrast, Lawrence animal control’s responsibilities include impounding at-large and stray animals; addressing injured animals within business hours; responding to vicious animal calls; handling reports of animal abuse; and more, as outlined in Chapter III of the city’s code.

When Wells joined the humane society in 2020, the city employed three ACOs. As their numbers have shrunk, the number of animals brought in by the police department has also precipitously declined.

The chart below uses LHS’s data to measure strays or confiscated animals brought to the shelter. These numbers don’t reflect the broad array of services offered by animal control and LHS — both of which handle calls that don’t lead to an animal impound — and don’t include intakes such as owner surrenders and bite quarantines, or dead animals brought in for cremation.

(Click here to open the chart in a new tab.)

According to LHS’ data, three ACOs and LPD officers in 2020 brought in 402 strays and confiscated animals, or 36% of the 1,106 total for the year; 704 animals, or 64%, were brought in by LHS or by members of the general public.

As of Aug. 17, animal control and LPD had brought in 33 animals for the year, or 5% of the total. LHS and the public have brought in 659 animals, or 95%. 

Numbers suggest that over time, the responsibility of trapping stray and at-large animals is falling increasingly to the public and the shelter, as animal control is understaffed and overburdened.

Though Wells doesn’t anticipate as many intakes overall this year as 2024, she doesn’t expect the number of community strays to decrease.

“When we look at communities that don’t have as robustly staffed of an animal control agency, we are going to see more stray animals,” Wells said. 

Animal control received $588,000 in funding in 2025. Under current budget projections for the 2026 fiscal year, the department may get a $49,000 bump, with a proposed $656,000 total. 

“There hasn’t been a high level of transparency about where animal control falls within that budget,” Wells said. “… and so someone who is looking at that might think, ‘Well, that looks like a lot of money for animal control,’ but it’s actually animal control and the shelter combined.”

In 2025, LHS received $437,000 through its MOU with the city, which came from the $588,000 budget. About 25% of the budget, or $151,000, was allocated to LPD’s animal control services.

LHS will receive $508,475 throughout 2026, or about 80% of the proposed $637,000 budget for animal control in 2026. The remaining $128,525 would cover salaries, benefits, training, equipment and internal services fees, according to McCabe.

Gaps in animal control coverage

Concerns about animal control’s response capacity have circulated for a few years.

In 2024, the community and Wells called for expanded coverage when a stray dog almost died after hours. At the time, a new hire was training under the veteran ACO, and both were out for personal reasons. Calls to LHS also went unanswered.

Three trained ACOs were the department standard until two employees left the division in 2024. The city’s animal control webpage still reads, “Animal Control has three full time employees who generally work daytime hours, seven days a week, subject to staff availability.”

“2024 was budgeted for 3 ACO’s and 2025 was budgeted for two,” McCabe wrote via email. “Right now, pending budget approval, so is 2026.”

She also said LPD does not anticipate increasing staff.

With one ACO working dayside and full-time, Lawrence isn’t covered for at least two days per week. Wells said the current ACO faces an increased burden when she rightfully uses her PTO and has no colleagues to take over for her.

Per McCabe, there’s no easy answer for LPD procedures when the ACO is not present. Vicious animal reports warrant the highest priority, while less pressing reports, such as an animal barking, “may be postponed until resources are available.” Injured animals or animals at large take the same priority as “taking a report on a previous burglary or reporting drug activity.”

Since LPD has around-the-clock staffing, McCabe said PD officers already in the field are usually the best first responders when a person’s life is in danger.

“They are trained in responding to life-threatening emergencies and best used to secure a scene so professionals trained in animal services can take over safely,” McCabe said. 

Officers can also issue citations when necessary and handle investigations of illegal activity, such as animal abuse.

The current animal control employee has ACO-III training through the National Animal Care & Control Association. Wells said that although many officers are “animal-loving,” they lack specific training, handling knowledge, protective gear and other necessary equipment. 

Officers arrived on the scene at Centennial Park to find the aggressor dog pinned down by two bystanders. A Facebook post from LPD reads, “Officers took over and got control of the dog by creating a makeshift muzzle from a leash.” LPD officers later transported the animal to the shelter.

Boundaries of the Lawrence Humane Society’s contract

“So one of the challenges that that creates is … an increased burden on the public to intervene when they see animals in need, especially strays,” Wells said in reference to animal control’s limitations.

Wells also said that LHS is sometimes tapped when officers respond to urgent animal-related emergencies without an ACO.

Requests have included transporting both healthy and ill or injured stray animals during business hours, picking up deceased animals, or responding to calls about animals left in vehicles for hours, animals without care after an owner’s arrest and animals involved in dog fights or human bites. It is against police policy for non-ACOs to place animals in a patrol vehicle, further complicating transportation without the specialized officer present.

When LHS receives calls beyond the scope of their contract, Wells said staff aim to be team players. They have responded to some urgent calls or medical crises outside of their contract — though this comes with increased liability.

Such instances require that LHS staff divert their attention from daily shelter responsibilities. Due to contract limitations, LHS can’t hold people accountable if a citation or similar writeup is deemed necessary. Wells also worries that if shelter staff incur an injury while on a non-contracted call, they may not be covered by insurance.

At other times, LHS simply does not have the capacity to provide extra resources.

“Then I feel awful because, you know, I mean, we do this work because we care about people and we care about pets, and when we know that one or both are in distress, it doesn’t feel good to hold a boundary, even if we know that is in the best interest of the organization or staff safety,” Wells said.

The future of Lawrence’s animal control

There are seemingly no solutions on the horizon.

“It’s really not tenable unless there’s increased training for those (general LPD) officers, which we would get behind and really help support, or more dedicated staff that provide widespread coverage for the community,” Wells said.

In 2023, LHS had a proposal to take over animal control services in Lawrence. Wells said that there seemed to be interest from LPD and even commissioners. Funding was the primary barrier.

LHS reviewed industry best practices and determined that to provide adequate services, they would need four full-time animal officers, one supervisor and one admin. The city did not fund the full request, and LHS was resistant to running an underfunded program that could put officers, animals and the community at risk. 

Wells recognized that there are several highly contested funding categories for the city budget in the midst of a flailing economy. She said LHS would still be interested in a full-service contract. 

Ultimately, Wells just wants animal control services expanded, however that is best achieved.

“(W)e would like to see additional animal control staffing even if it’s not under Lawrence Humane,” Wells wrote.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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