PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — As the Prince George's County Animals Services Facility and Adoption Center (ASFAC) continues to deal with a recurrence of the respiratory infection known as Strep Zoo, the shelter will be limiting owner-surrender pets. This comes as the shelter also gets closer to reaching full capacity.
Strep Zoo, pronounced Zo, was previously detected at the shelter in January and caused a brief shutdown. It remains a great concern for public animal shelters nationwide.
Because of the infection returning, all pets at the shelter are being treated with medication as a preventative measure and the facility has followed deep cleaning protocols.
Now, the shelter is open and waiving all pet adoption fees to help move animals out of the facility.
“Our facility will limit the intake of owner-surrender pets to prevent further overcrowding and exposure to disease,” said Animal Services Director David Fisher. “We need the public’s help and ask them to consider re-homing a pet with other family or friends before bringing them to the shelter and adopting, fostering, or rescuing one of the pets already in our care.”
While the shelter has adopted out hundreds of animals since reopening in January, hundreds more have entered the facility.
“We would like to move as many as 100+ dogs out of our facility through pet adoption, new fosters, and our rescue partners,” says Fisher. “I encourage those looking for a four-legged friend to take advantage of our waived adoption fees.”
ASFAC provides five tips to help keep pets out of the shelter:
- Always microchip your pet and make sure it has a quality ID collar tag.
- Don’t walk your dog off-leash. County code requires all dogs to be walked with a leash.
- Spay or neuter your pet to prevent overpopulation.
- Ensure your pet's spaces, like walls, fences, and gates, are secure so they won’t be able to wiggle out.
- Take animals in your care to regular veterinary visits and keep them up to date on their vaccinations and pet licenses. Keeping your animal healthy keeps our community of animals healthy.
The animal shelter is open to the public Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. To view the many animals available for adoption, visit princegeorgespets4us.com.
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