Residents of the newly renovated animal shelter in Prince George’s County, Maryland are waiting for a leash and a ride home.
Officials celebrated the county animal shelter’s first major upgrade in 17 years with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
The $1.7 million in renovations at the Animal Services Facility and Adoption Center include housing for cats, new interaction rooms, 14 additional dog kennels, improved safety features and flooring.
New sanitation equipment includes a pressure washer and a ride-on floor scrubber nicknamed Lord Buffington and decorated with eyes, a nose and a mouth. Both help explain why the facility smelled remarkably clean despite the hundreds of animals living there.
David Fisher, the chief and administrator of the county’s Animal Services Division, told WTOP the facility handled 9,338 animals in 2025, and he expects even more this year.
“In the month of July, we actually had 600 dogs inside of this facility,” Fisher said, pointing out that even with the additional 14 kennels, the facility’s capacity is only 184.
“So you have 600 dogs, 184 kennels. As my daughter likes to say, the math is not mathing,” he said.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy described herself as a “dog mom.”
“They make us feel good. They make us laugh. Sometimes they make us cry. Sometimes they annoy us because they’re running around so much,” Braveboy joked. “But you know what? They always, always love us.”
Braveboy also thanked the shelter staff and volunteers for their dedication to the animals.
Shelter volunteer Marsha Dabolt said before the ribbon-cutting that she was getting choked up because Braveboy was the first county executive to visit the facility.
The renovations added a break room and an enclosed outdoor area for staff and volunteers, who kept caring for hundreds of animals throughout construction without reducing the facility’s capacity. And the work isn’t finished.
The next phase of the $3.1 million project will bring a medical treatment area, operating room, X-ray equipment and diagnostic tools. Fisher said animals currently travel up to an hour for surgery, but more procedures will soon be possible on-site.
The county is also hiring its first full-time veterinarian.
“When that person comes in, now they have all the tools,” Fisher said. “We don’t have to beg, borrow, and steal. We just have it at our disposal.”
Phase two is expected to be completed in six to eight months.
Another goal is becoming the first “no-kill” shelter in Maryland and in the region. The shelter’s save rate is in the mid-80% range, and no-kill status is reached at 90%, officials said.
That is why Fisher issued an open invitation.
“Everybody, everybody, their cousin, their mother, their sister, and whoever’s visiting from Florida or whatever other state, come on in,” Fisher said. “You want to take an animal back anyway. We got better stuff here than you have back home.”
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