1st Quarter - Fiscal Year 2027 Report

Learn about animal intakes, outcomes, return to owner rates, average length of stay, live-release rates, donation fund activity, and other agency statistics for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2027.

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VIEW INTAKES AND OUTCOMES OVER TIME FROM SHELTER ANIMALS COUNT

Summary

The 1st Quarter Report for Fiscal Year 2027 (July 2026 to September 2026) provides outcomes and program statistics for Multnomah County Animal Services. The report includes return to owner (RTO) rates for found animals, average length of stay (LOS), in addition to live-release-rates over the course of this time period.

For ongoing monthly intake and outcome data with comparisons, MCAS invites community members to use Shelter Animals Count (SAC) Dashboards.

Animal Care Updates

The animal care team is responsible for cleaning kennels, feeding animals in care, as well as the intake process for animals, daily enrichment, dog play groups, and adoption counseling.

Animal Care Highlights for the Quarter:

• Remodeled the adoption play yards into separate pods to increase our capacity to provide safe adoption meet & greets.
• Held outreach adoption events at Petsmart Gresham, and Evergreen Pet Supply.
• Solidified a partnership to adopt cats from the Petsmart Gresham location.
• Improved animal care task assignment and tracking systems to provide consistent care for shelter animals.
• Filled an Animal Tech 2 staff position vacancy with an internal transfer candidate  to support animal enrichment.

Animal Intake

MCAS accepted stray dogs, sick, injured or at-risk adult cats and kittens from the public. Officers also picked up stray or lost animals. Owner-surrendered animals were accepted on a case by case basis, depending on urgent circumstances; adoption returns are also included in the total. Other intakes represent animals placed into protective custody by Animal Services officers, or other Field-Services circumstances. Intakes are calculated as unique intake instances, rather than unique animals during the reporting period.

Veterinary Care Provided

The Animal Health team at MCAS provides veterinary care 365 days a year for lost, stray, injured, sick, abandoned, abused and neglected animals. They perform surgical procedures including spay and neuter.

Animal Health Highlights for the Quarter:

• The hospital was fully staffed with veterinarians for coverage every day of the week.
• Increased surgical capacity beyond spay and neuter to include enucleations and amputations as needed.
• The team continues to update and create medical protocols.
• Added additional equipment to the surgery suite to improve care.

Percentage of Spayed or Neutered Adopted Animals

With an investment in additional Animal Health staff positions in FY 2026, MCAS increased its capacity to provide Spay & Neuter surgeries in-house. The following is the percentage of animals adopted during the quarter who received surgery at MCAS or were previously altered.

Fostered Animals

The foster program expands the capacity of the shelter system, and provides specialty care for puppies, kittens, animals recovering from medical conditions or treatments, and respite for animals who are stressed in the shelter environment. Fostering animals also helps us learn more about shelter animals - most of whom arrive with no known history about their behaviors and preferences.

Fostering Highlights for the Quarter:

• Onboarded 123 new foster volunteers
• Supported more than 452 animals in foster this quarter
• 160 animals adopted out of foster homes
• Kitten vaccination clinics continued through September with 93 foster kittens being seen.

Animals Fostered

Thank you to foster volunteers for your lifesaving service.

Animal Outcomes

MCAS returns found or impounded animals to their owners, or arranges other appropriate outcomes, including adoption services, or transferring animals to regional sheltering or rescue partners. Humane euthanasia is considered for severely injured, sick, or dangerous animals, or when an animal presents challenging behaviors that exceed the shelter's capacity to safely treat or manage. A limited number of found cats are returned to the field at the location they were found when appropriate. Other outcomes include animals who are lost in care.

Outcomes are calculated based on unique instances, and not unique animals.

Detailed Outcomes

*RTO is calculated only for reclaimed animals with a stray intake circumstance.

Live Release Rate

The Live release rate calculates total animals returned to owner, adopted, transferred, or returned to field, divided by total outcomes. Learn more about how the live release rate compares to other government shelters from Shelter Animals Count.

Transfers

MCAS transferred 217 domestic shelter animals to other regional shelters and rescues. Some instances of injured wildlife were also transferred to agencies.

Thank you to our community partners for your lifesaving work.

• Oregon Humane
• Harmony New Beginnings Animal Rescue
• Cat Adoption Team
• Stumptown Strays
• The Wet Spot Tropical Fish
• Bird Alliance Of Oregon
• Silver Linings Rescue Ranch Dog Rescue
• Evergreen Pet Supply
• Street Savvy Dog Rescue
• Pets on Broadway
• Hiss & Hers Herp Hobbies
• West Columbia Gorge Humane Society
• One Tail At A Time Dog Rescue, Llc
• Oregon Humane - Salem Campus
• Bulldog Haven NW
• Saint Bernards of the PNW Rescue
• Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
• SOS Lost Pet Rescue NW, Inc
• Oregon Dog Rescue Oregon Dog Rescue
• NW Animal Companions
• My Way Home Dog Rescue
• Idaho Mastiff Rescue
• Angels For Sara Sanctuary

Volunteers

Volunteers support the pets of our community in many different ways. A network of foster volunteers provides vital support to kittens, puppies, and other at-risk shelter animals. Volunteers walk and socialize dogs throughout the day, and support adoption meet & greets. They socialize cats and small animals. They help clean kennels and provide enrichment, do laundry and dishes, and support special events.

Volunteer Highlights for the Quarter:

• 57 new volunteer introductions!
• Roll out of a safety map with color coding for parking lots and standardized gate names to facilitate communication among staff and volunteers.
• Implemented a dog walking procedure and pattern to support having multiple dog walkers moving in a more safe, predictable environment.
• Continued monthly education sessions setup for our Dog Walking Program
• Set up ipads for behavioral and medical reporting in real time
• Volunteers supported multiple community outreach events at the Monta Villa Farmers Market and Sundays Parkways events throughout the summer.
• Volunteers conducted outreach at the City of Wood Village City Night Out Event.

Thank you volunteers for your service to the pets and people of our community!

*Unique volunteers - many volunteers serve in multiple roles. 

**FTE is the estimated equivalent number of full-time employees.

Community Advisory Committee (CAC)

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) advises the Animal Services Director. They represent the interests of people who work and live in Multnomah County in protecting the health, safety and welfare of people and pets throughout Multnomah County. 

CAC Highlights for the Quarter:

• The CAC met monthly to discuss issues on a work plan created collaboratively with County staff and CAC members. 
• Members are finalizing their first initiative: keeping pets and people together when possible. 
• CAC members determined top priorities for community resources to support pet ownership. The next unit, starting in November 2026, will focus on community impacts on the shelter’s ability to do its work.
   

Donation Accounts

Thank you to our donors for your support of animals in our care! Animal Services maintains donation funds restricted for specific purposes. Below is a summary for the fiscal year. More information about donation fund expense categories and program budgets can be reviewed on the Multnomah County Budget Office public dashboards, updated regularly. Represented financial data is current as of 9/30/2026.

Field Services

Field Services officers respond to urgent needs of community members and their pets, investigate cases of potential cruelty or neglect, loose-aggressive animals, bites, and pick up stray, injured, abandoned, potentially dangerous, or deceased animals, including wildlife. Officers also respond to non-urgent calls such as barking dogs, animal trespass, and other community issues.

Field Services Highlights for the Quarter:

• As of October 2026, the Field Services team is fully staffed.
• Purchased two new vehicles, waiting to be outfitted.
• Animal Control Officer received a scholarship to attend the annual Oregon Animal Control Council Training Conference. 

Injured Wildlife Pickup Service

Pet Licensing

MCAS issues pet licenses for dogs and cats, valid from one to three years.