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Multnomah County Animal Services

Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) provides important services for the entire Portland area. It’s the only public animal shelter and control agency, so they’ve got a lot on their plate! Here’s how MCAS makes life better for us and all our animal friends in Portland.

About Multnomah County Animal Services

MCAS serves all 700,000+ residents of Multnomah County. Its mission is to “protect the health, safety, and welfare of people and pets throughout Multnomah County.”

MCAS provides lost and found services, adoption services, licensing, 24-hour response to emergencies, and help resolving animal nuisance disputes. The staff also investigates cases of animal abuse and neglect, as well as helps deal with potentially dangerous dogs. (As you can imagine, the staff is very busy making sure everyone is taken care of.)

MCAS takes in over 8,000 animals each year, mostly cats and dogs, but also occasionally a bird, rabbit, or reptile. MCAS is an open-door facility, meaning that it takes any breed of dog or cat, regardless of health issues or adoptability. There are no exceptions to this policy (and we can tell you that this isn’t the norm with animal shelters).

Humane Shelter

The staff at MCAS is committed to doing everything possible to increase save rates for the animals that come their way. They’ve been able to partner with the community in several ways to increase save rates. These include:

  • Transferring cats and dogs to private shelters and rescue groups
  • Finding foster homes for high-needs animals
  • Creating a work program for cats, where cats catch rodents in exchange for food and a comfortable place to live

Animals are only euthanized when they have serious health problems that endanger other animals in the shelter or when they present a danger to people in the community.

Adopting from Multnomah County Animal Shelter

All current adoptable pets are listed here. Depending on the animal, quite a bit of information is available right here. Information about the animal’s health, preferences around children and other pets, and sometimes even a short video are available to look at.

Animals that arrive at the shelter are given thorough health examinations. Dogs undergo a behavior assessment, while cats’ behavior is observed by staff for several days. This helps staff decide what kind of owner would be a good fit for the pet.

Multnomah County Animal Shelter Lost and Found Services

If you find a pet, there are instructions for what to do here. You can also fill out a report, which pet owners looking for missing pets can peruse. If you’re a pet owner who has lost a pet, you can search through those found reports here.

If you’re a pet owner who has lost an animal, you can also fill out  lost reports like these. (Just a helpful side note: make sure you always have a good, current photo of your pet in case you ever need to fill out one of these reports.)

Ways to Help

If you want to support the shelter’s mission of saving as many animals as possible, there are several great ways you can do that.

Donate

You can donate items that the shelter needs, buy items from the shelter’s Amazon wish list, or donate to your choice of five different funds.

The shelter also accepts vehicle donations.

Volunteer

The shelter is a great way to get some rewarding volunteer time in. You’ll need to attend a training, pay a small fee, and pass a background check. Youth as young as 12 can volunteer if a parent or guardian is present, which is pretty cool! Check out the details here. Who doesn’t need some more animal time?

Foster

The shelter receives a lot of animals that need special care (often very young animals, very old animals, or animals who have serious health needs). Fostering is a great way to get some animal companionship without the permanency of adopting an animal. Here’s everything you need to know to get started as a foster care provider.

Thanks to Multnomah County Animal Services for All You Do!

We’re grateful to have a shelter like MCAS here in our community, and we encourage you to support them and the work they’re doing however you can.

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