Ban On Owner-Surrendered Dogs In Place At Prince George's County Shelter

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Starting Wednesday, no owner-surrendered dogs will be accepted through April 30 at the Prince George’s County Animals Services Facility and Adoption Center. The ban is because the shelter currently is full and also undergoing deep cleaning protocol due to another outbreak of Strep Zoo.

The ASFAC will try to provide pet owners with alternative options through rescue partners, who may be able to provide intake assistance.

Because the shelter is dealing with another outbreak, all pets at the shelter are being treated with medication as a preventative measure and the facility has enacted deep cleaning protocols, the shelter announced.

The shelter also will be waiving pet adoption fees, including spays and neutering, to help more pets find their forever homes and get out of the shelter.

“Our facility continues to experience the same challenges as other shelters nationwide with diseases and the number of animals that come into our facility,” said ASFAC Animal Services Director David Fisher. “When faced with these challenges, our team shifts its operations to efficiently address the care and needs of the animals and staff.”

Since the beginning of the year, the ASFAC has moved hundreds of animals out of the facility, but its goal is to adopt, foster or work with rescue partners to get an additional 100 dogs out of the facility in the next week. To reach this goal, they need the community's help in either adopting or fostering some of the dogs currently living there.

Strep Zoo was previously detected at the shelter in January and caused a brief shutdown. Rescue groups reached out to FOX5 DC reporting the euthanizing of up to 40 dogs recently in light of the outbreak. They believe the problem is because Prince George's County still has a breed ban in place, so residents can't adopt or foster pit bulls, FOX5 said.

The ASFAC is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To view the animals available for adoption, visit princegeorgespets4us.com. The shelter is located at 3750 Brown Station Road in Upper Marlboro.

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Dogs In Desperate Need Of Homes As Full County Shelter Faces Outbreak