08/09/2026
Anne Arundel County residents who find stray pets now will be able to take them to any of the county's 31 fire stations to be checked for a microchip -- seven days a week, 24 hours a day -- so the pets hopefully can be quickly reunited with their owners.
Thanks to a cooperative agreement between Anne Arundel County Animal Services and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, each of the 31 fire stations now has a universal microchip scanner, paid for by our nonprofit, Friends of Anne Arundel County Animals. A fire department employee will scan the pet and, if it has a microchip, give the finder the chip number and a website that identifies the firm associated with the chip and how to contact it. The microchip firm then will notify the owners.
The fire station will only scan the pet for a microchip, not keep it. A finder in Anne Arundel County can hold a stray for up to three days before it must be turned over to AACAS. If the finder wants AACAS to take the animal immediately, they should call 410-222-3939. If the shelter is closed, the finder can bring the pet to AACAS, 411 Maxwell Frye Rd., Millersville and call the police nonemergency number, 410-222-8610. A police officer will come and take the pet into the shelter.
Thank you to Fire Chief Trisha Wolford, AACAS Director Claudia Roll and, ahem, Friends of AACA for working together to find another way to try to get stray pets back to their owners as soon as possible, hopefully without ever entering the shelter. (We also deeply appreciate the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s longtime cooperation when stray pets do need to go there during hours when the shelter is closed.)
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Cinnamon, the 2-year-old dog shown below, is available for adoption at AACAS, where adoption fees for all pets have been waived for the month of August.
8/13 update: Cinnamon left the shelter today for a foster-to-adopt home. 😊