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St. Mary's County animal shelter reports 34% rise in intakes, board presses for humane feral-cat options
Summary
Shelter staff told the St. Mary's County Animal Control Advisory Board that 639 animals entered the shelter from Nov. 5–Feb. 25, a 34% increase over last year, and board members pressed for alternatives to euthanasia for feral cats and for more volunteer and community housing options.
The St. Mary's County Animal Services Division reported that 639 animals entered the county shelter between Nov. 5 and Feb. 25, a 34% increase from 475 in the same period last year.
Hollis Lampe, St. Mary's County Animal Services division manager, told the Animal Control Advisory Board that during the period the shelter recorded 239 owner surrenders, 222 strays, 84 animals transferred in, 56 seized animals and 6 animals born in care. The shelter recorded 425 adoptions, 96 returns to owners and 75 transfers to coalition partners. "A hundred and 9 animals were euthanized and 8 died in custody," Lampe said, and the shelter achieved an 86 percent live release rate for the period. She said the average length of stay was 20.5 days for dogs and 38.8 days for cats.
Board members and volunteers pressed staff for more humane alternatives for feral cats after Lampe and others described a pattern of property owners asking animal control to remove large, unsterilized colonies. Diane Harris of Feral Cat Rescue said many of the cats the rescue sees are not socialized for adoption and urged the board and community members to help find outdoor or barn homes for groups of feral cats. "We should try to help with that," Harris said, describing the need for acclimation space and managed outdoor housing.
Lampe said the county has a trap-neuter-return (TNR) policy in place with Animal Services and Emergency Management, and that the division is not actively trapping ear-tipped cats because ear-tipped cats typically have a caretaker: "The only ear-tipped cats that we are currently accepting at the shelter are those that are sick or injured." Board members asked staff to clarify how TNR and return policies are applied when property owners refuse to retain or support colonies.
The shelter reported several operational notes: animal control answered 1,210 calls for service including 193 cruelty investigations; the pet pantry distributed thousands of pounds of pet food; 90 new volunteers were onboarded, including 23 youth volunteers; and the county gained custody of 36 large-breed dogs seized in Charlotte Hall, 17 of which had been adopted and six placed with a rescue partner by the time of the meeting. Lampe said a fee-waived adoption promotion was planned for March 14–16 and that both pot-bellied pigs in long-term care were recently adopted.
Board members sought additional data from staff, including breakdowns by species for intake and for the 109 euthanasia cases. Lampe said she did not have the species breakdown on hand but would provide that information by email.
Board members discussed limits on county authority and funding. Steve Tuttle, the board chair, and Jennifer Ruttz, director of emergency services, said funding constraints and staffing affect the county’s ability to expand spay/neuter services or add recurring county-paid programs. Ruttz said some one-time improvements (storage containers, facility tweaks) have been easier to secure than recurring budget items such as county-funded spay/neuter programs.
The board agreed to return feral-cat strategies to new business and to develop a set of goals for 2025 that could be presented to the county commissioners, including requests for targeted funding or county-supported programs.
