Animal Control
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find telephone numbers to state and local resources?
What does Animal Control recommend residents do to handle nuisance animal problems?
What should I do if I receive a violation from Animal Control?
Can I get information on the person who filed a complaint against my pet?
Why doesn’t the Animal Shelter spay or neuter animals before adoption?
How can I get my pet's rabies vaccination, microchip, or license?
Q. Where can I find telephone numbers to state and local resources?
A. Telephone numbers for state and local agencies:
- Department of Health - Animal Control Division: 410-887-5961
- Department of Health - Communicable Disease Division: 410-887-2724
- Maryland State Highway Administration: 410-780-2640
- Nuisance Wildlife: 1-877-463-6497
- Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspection: 410-887-3352
- Department of Environmental Protection & Sustainability: 410-887-4066
- Humane Society of Baltimore County: 410-833-8848
- Wildlife Rescue: 410-628-9736
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Q. What are Animal Control's hours of operation?
A. The Animal Control Division has officers available to respond to emergencies around the clock seven days a week.
Regular Services: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Adoption Visiting Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.Animal Shelter Lost Pet Search:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
After business hours, call Animal Control for instruction or call 911 for emergencies involving animals.
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Q. What does Animal Control recommend residents do to handle nuisance animal problems?
A. The Animal Control Division depends upon the community's close cooperation to solve nuisance animal problems in the community.
- If a neighbor's pet runs loose, leaves unwelcome deposits on public or private property or barks and howls excessively, attempt to work the problem out with your neighbor before filing a formal complaint.
- If a neighbor complains about your pet, make every effort to cooperate. The goal is to attain compliance, without the need for monetary violations and without creating hard feelings between neighbors.
Q. How do I file a nuisance complaint about an animal?
A. There is a multi-step process for filing nuisance complaints. Report animal nuisances, menacing animals and mistreatment of animals by file an online complaint or call Animal Control at 410-887-5961 to discuss your report. Give your name, address and telephone number and the address where the animal lives. Animal Control does not share information about you with the pet owner at this point unless he or she formally requests that information. When dogs are running loose, Animal Control may take your complaint anonymously and patrol the area. Animal Control will contact the pet owner (in person, if possible), and advise how to remedy the problem. If you witness a continued problem, Animal Control will provide you with an Affidavit of Complaint. When this form is completed, notarized and returned, Animal Control will issue a monetary violation based on your sworn statement for the law violations involved.
Note: This problem resolution should be used only as a general guide. Many factors will indicate the appropriate investigation and enforcement process for each individual situation.
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Q. What should I do if I receive a violation from Animal Control?
A. Upon receiving violations, a pet owner has two options to consider:
Option 1: Immediately correct the problem that caused the violation and pay the fine within five days; or
Option 2: Immediately correct the problem that caused the violation and within five days request a hearing in writing. Both parties will be scheduled to go before the Animal Hearing Board. The Complainant and the Respondent must both appear.
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Q. Can I get information on the person who filed a complaint against my pet?
A. If the Animal Control Division sends you a letter or you receive a visit from an Animal Control Officer, you may obtain the name and address of the complainant if available and only upon showing proper identification or by making written request with identification.
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Q. Who do I call to have a dead animal removed?
A. Call Animal Control for dead animals on County maintained roads. Maryland Highway Administration picks up dead animals on State numbered routes. Animal Control also picks up deceased pets, free of charge. This service does not include dead livestock or farm animals.
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Q. My neighbor abuses and neglects his pets. What should I do?
A. Cruelty to animals is a crime. If you witness animal abuse, call 911. The Animal Control Division accepts anonymous complaints involving the health and welfare of animals. All animals must be provided shelter for protection from wind, snow, rain, cold and the sun, veterinary care, plus adequate daily food and water in clean, untippable bowls or buckets.
Should you have questions, contact the Animal Control Division Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 410-887-5961.
Q. My pet is lost. What should I do?
A. Check our lost cat and dog web section. Call and then visit the Animal Shelter
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bring a photo of your lost pet with you; it will be placed the our lost pet book. Bring your Maryland picture identification or license, your pet's rabies vaccination information, if available, and any proof of ownership. Be prepared to pay impoundment, board charges, and purchase the required license. The Animal Shelter accepts cash and checks only. Call ahead for further instructions, and be sure to take a look at the Lost Pet Brochure (PDF).
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Q. Am I required to turn in a stray pet?
A. Baltimore County Law requires that finders of stray pets turn the pet over to Animal Control within 24 hours. Any pet not claimed by its owner or adopted during the Animal Shelter's four-day hold period may be reclaimed by the person who found it for the cost of a Rabies vaccination and County animal license. For more information, contact the Department of Health's Animal Control Division at 410-887-5961 or e-mail animalcontrol@baltimorecountymd.gov.
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Q. Why are stray animals held for just four days?
A. The Animal Shelter is the only shelter in Baltimore County that is authorized to take in lost animals. This means that worried pet owners have only one shelter to visit when they are missing their dog or cat. People who find stray pets must turn them in within 24 hours. Animals are kept for a minimum holding period of four days by law, including Saturdays, in order to allow their owners time to locate them at the animal shelter (County Code: 12-3-201). If they are not reunited with their owners during the four-day hold period, healthy adoptable pets are held for as long as there is space to keep them. Shelter staff work to get them adopted, reclaimed by the person who found them, or transferred to a rescue group.
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Q. What is the pet adoption fee?
A. The adoption fee for all pets is $65. This includes the pet, an exam by a licensed veterinarian, a first full series of shots, worming and microchip with registration. Pets will also receive a Rabies vaccination, annual license and a discount certificate toward spaying or neutering. All pets must be spayed or neutered. There can be monetary violations issued for non-compliance.
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Q. Why doesn’t the Animal Shelter spay or neuter animals before adoption?
A. The Animal Shelter does not have a surgical or recovery suite to spay/neuter a cat or dog, so each new pet owner is required to sign an adoption contract promising to have their new pet spayed or neutered. Compliance is vigorously tracked. With the low cost adoption, pet owners receive a discount voucher and a list of participating veterinarians and clinics. Soon after the adoption, pet owners receive a friendly reminder card. Pet owners who do not comply are subject to a $100 fine for each month that they fail to spay or neuter their pet, followed by a lawsuit.
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Q. How can I get my pet's rabies vaccination, microchip or license?
A. Take advantage of the Animal Shelter's weekly clinics, for dogs, cats and ferrets which are held each Tuesday by appointment. During May and June, the Department's Communicable Disease Division holds low cost Rabies clinics at community locations. Rabies vaccinations and licenses are required for all cats and dogs four months of age. You must provide proof of a current Rabies vaccination in order to purchase a license. Licenses (PDF) are also available at the County Office Building and at all public libraries. When you purchase a license, you will be mailed a renewal form when it is time to purchase a new one.
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Q. Who do I call about nuisance wildlife?
A. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources sponsors a toll-free Wildlife Damage Hotline in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. Hotline staff will help you make your household environment less appealing to wildlife intruders. DNR also licenses wildlife removal specialists, rescue rehabilitators and all trapping activities in the state. A DNR permit is required by law to trap nuisance wildlife. For further information contact 1-877-463-6497 or visit www.dnr.state.md.us.
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Q. Where do I get information on rodent control (rats)?
A. Learn more about rodent control and report rat problems by visiting the Rid Rats web section or calling 410-887-RATS.
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Q. What should I do if I am bitten by a dog, cat or ferret?
A. Flush and clean the wound(s) immediately with warm, soapy water and then apply an antiseptic. Contact your Health Care Provider for further instructions, including the need for tetanus immunization and/or antibiotics to control bacterial infection. If the biting animal is obviously sick, behaving abnormally, or if the injury is serious, go to the nearest emergency room for evaluation.
The risk of rabies from bites inflicted by apparently healthy dogs, cats, ferrets can be dismissed if the animal is confined (usually by the owner) and observed as healthy for the prescribed 10 days following the bite. No person in the United States has ever contracted rabies from a dog, cat or ferret which has been held in quarantine for 10 days.
Unless the animal is healthy and the owner is well known to you, report bites to the Police Department by calling 911 or 410-887-2222. Reporting the bite to the Police begins a process that helps insure that the bite case is properly managed.
In most cases, bites inflicted by an animal owned by a close friend or relative can be handled informally by the parties themselves by just observing the animal for the 10 days after the bite as described above. In these situations, calling the Police is at the discretion of the parties involved, but if the Police are not called, be sure to contact the Department of Health at 410-887-2724 the next business day to verify the control plan.
If the animal is a stray and can be safely confined, also contact Animal Control at 410-887-5961 to arrange for pickup. If you have questions about your bite case or how the animal should be managed with regard to the rabies risk, call the Baltimore County Department of Health at 410-887-2724 on the next business day. If you have concerns about an ongoing bite threat an animal poses, notify Animal Control at the number given above.
Q. Where can I find the laws and regulation for Animal Control matters (barking dogs, lost pet policy and pets on leashes, etc.)?
A. Laws and regulations (PDF) regarding Animal Control matters can be located in the 2003 Baltimore County Code, which also contains the Baltimore County Charter.
The County Code has been supplemented through Bill 123-10 (Supplement 22).
Revised December 16, 2011
