Once again, a volunteer advocate for Prince George’s County’s animal shelter is asking Southern Maryland residents to look north. On Wednesday, Sept. 30, she told the Chronicle, the shelter released another list of dogs facing euthanasia, this time 17 young and healthy dogs, and the people who work to place them say they are running out of homes and hands.
The list is the latest in a string that dates to the end of 2024. When the Chronicle covered a 28-dog list in March, advocates counted at least 1,009 dogs placed on such lists since Christmas 2024. The tipster now puts that running minimum at 1,360. That total comes from rescue volunteers rather than from the county, and the Chronicle was unable to confirm it independently, so it is best read as an advocates’ tally.
A timing note matters here. Lists like these typically give rescues and adopters about a week, and the 9/30 window has almost certainly closed by the time this story publishes; the Chronicle has not been able to confirm what happened to the 17 dogs. Some may be adopted, fostered or pulled by rescues, and the county has not published an outcome. Readers should check the shelter’s current listings rather than treating any individual name or deadline from September as current.
What is not in doubt is the pressure on the building. The Prince George’s County Animal Services Facility and Adoption Center on Brown Station Road in Upper Marlboro has about 170 kennels, and its chief administrator told WJLA in 2025 that it had run 30 to 50 percent over capacity for more than a year, warning that crowding invites disease and stress. The shelter says it posts a critical or urgent list when it is at capacity to be transparent and to drive adoptions, and it shares that list with rescue partners. It also says most animal services agencies cannot turn animals away, which keeps intake high while adoptions fall across the region. The county’s own adoption page today describes the facility as at full capacity and in urgent need of homes, especially for large and senior dogs, and warns that otherwise healthy, adoptable dogs may face “alternative solutions” for lack of space. A separate September list, with a Sept. 15 deadline, was also reported this fall.
The tipster attributes the surge to economic hardship, post-pandemic shifts in pet ownership, limited resources, and unregulated breeding with too little spay/neuter access. Those causes mirror what advocates told the Chronicle in March, and the county has made similar points about intake. The county has also ended its decades-old pit bull-type ban: the Council voted in November 2025 to repeal it, and the new rules took effect Feb. 2, 2026. Many advocates hoped repeal would ease the crowding, yet the Chronicle’s March reporting found the shelter’s capacity problem persisted, and the new list suggests it still does. The repeal does, however, change who can take certain dogs home: people who want to adopt or foster a previously banned type go through a permit and training pilot, which the county says costs $25 on top of the standard license fee.
For Southern Marylanders who want to act, the path runs through county channels. Dogs are searchable on the shelter’s 24PetConnect page, which at last check showed 210 animals in the system. Interested adopters call 301-780-7200 (option 4) with a dog’s ID number, then bring a completed application, photo ID and a leash and collar to the shelter at 3750 Brown Station Road; adoptions are first-come, first-served. Under the county’s posted fee schedule, dog fees run from $230 for pets up to 20 pounds down to $0 for dogs over 80 pounds, though fees can change and promotions are common. All adopted pets are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped before they leave. Walk-in hours reported in September were Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with visitors asked to arrive an hour before closing; confirm before driving.
Those who cannot adopt can foster. The county’s foster process requires an online application and agreement and passing an online orientation quiz, followed by staff review; approved fosters should be ready to take an animal within 72 hours. Questions go to 301-780-7200, option 6. The shelter also takes volunteers, who attend an in-person orientation and get approval in about two weeks. Rescue groups that pull dogs from the shelter must be county-approved, and the county keeps a rescue-partner list on its adoption page. Groups the tipster named as helping place these dogs include MVAR, PB Proud, Vindicated Pit Bull Rescue, LovePaws, Laila’s Legacy, AAHA and P3; the Chronicle has not independently verified each group’s current status or its county-approved standing. The county also asks owners who are struggling to try rehoming a pet with family or friends, or to contact a county-approved rescue, before surrendering an animal.
Residents who want day-to-day updates on which dogs are most at risk can follow the “Friends of PG County Animal Shelter” page on Facebook, which the tipster cites as the source for the 9/30 list. The Chronicle could not independently view that list, and it is a volunteer page rather than an official county channel. Anyone acting on a specific dog should confirm its status with the shelter.
