Each year, the Montgomery County Animal Shelter cares for approximately 7,000 dogs and 4,000 cats.  Most of these pets are rescued from the streets by our Animal Care and Control Officers.  Some are brought in by concerned citizens and others by their owners who can no longer care for them.

STRAY HOLDING PERIODS

LICENSED DOGS
A currently licensed dog that is WEARING the license is held for 14 business days.  The owner is sent a certified letter notifying them that we have the dog.  If the dog is not wearing the license, it is NOT considered a licensed dog under state law.  We do not match incoming dogs with our license database.  It would be too difficult to match dogs in a county our size. 

Your dog's license is her ticket home!  Please make sure your dog is wearing her license!   We want to return your dog to you!

UNLICENSED DOGS
An unlicensed dog is available for reclaim for only 3 days under state law.  After 3 days, we decide whether to place the dog up for adoption, rescue or we decide we euthanize the dog. 

CATS
Depending on the jurisdiction, we hold cats for 0-3 days before we euthanize or place for adoption.  Cats are handled on a contract basis, so please come to the shelter to identify your cat.

Please note:  Over 80% of our incoming animals are never claimed by their owners  please help us improve this number!

We do NOT do lost and found over the phone  please come to the shelter to identify your pet  she's counting on you!