Animal Shelter Minimum Standards of Care

Reminder! By July 1, 2019, all rooms where animals are housed must have a fire alarm system

that will alert authorities of fire or heavy smoke.

In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly passed HB 626- Agriculture - Animal Shelters - Standards of Care and Protocol Implementation and Enforcement, which required the department to develop standards of care for dogs and cats kept in:

A shelter that is owned by a county or municipality;
A shelter that a county or municipality contracts with for animal control services; or
A shelter that has received a grant from the Maryland Spay and Neuter Grant Program during the previous year.

These standards became final April 23, 2018. The Maryland Department of Agricutlure is responsible for enforcing these minimum standards. Inspections of shelters will begin in 2019.

Read the

Minimum Standards of Care

Note: These standards do not apply to private or commercial kennels unless they receive funding from the State Spay & Neuter Grant Program.