Adam Ricci

Adam Ricci grew up in a suburban city outside of Portland, Maine. Ricci started his animal welfare career at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook, Maine. While a member of their kennel staff Ricci co-founded Southern Maine Pit Bulls, better known as SOME Pit! a pit bull education and advocacy group. Soon after Ricci moved away from the sheltering side of animal welfare and started employment with the Buxton, ME Police Department as their animal control officer. Ricci continued to work for Buxton PD but added additional responsibilities as a part-time police officer.

Ricci graduated from the 26th Basic Law Enforcement Training Program and became a post-certified officer for the Buxton PD. As police officer, Ricci took on additional roles to include the following: Property and Evidence Manager, Evidence Technician, Animal Control Supervisor, York County Special Deputy and represented the department on the York County Crime Task Force and the Maine Gang Intel Task Force. Ricci was also an instructor for the State of Maine Animal Control certification training.

In 2016, Ricci and his family moved to Tucson, AZ where Ricci took on the role of Chief Animal Protection Officer for the Pima Animal Care Center. Ricci currently oversees their animal protection division that includes their Community Support Services division assisting pet owners with resources and is the lead for the Pima Domestic Animal Response Team. Ricci was elected as a Board of Director for the National Animal Care and Control Association and represents NACA as their chair for their Disaster and Social Media Committees. He was recently hired as the Chief of Field Operations for the City of Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department.