06/10/2026
📖 Story Time: Meet Poseidon & Mercedez
One of the most important things we do at Baltimore County Animal Services is work to reunite lost pets with their families. Unless there are clear concerns of abuse or neglect, our goal is always to get pets back home where they belong.
Unfortunately, that doesn't happen as often as many people think.
In May alone, 466 stray animals entered our care. Only 65 were reunited with their owners. While that redemption rate is consistent with national averages, it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking.
Take Poseidon, for example.
When Poseidon arrived as a stray, shelter attendant Mercedez worked diligently to try to find his family. While sharing him on local lost and found pages, she stumbled across an older Facebook post from a dog trainer featuring a dog with the exact same distinctive markings.
After some detective work, she connected with Poseidon's previous owner, who explained that they had rehomed him and provided contact information for the person they believed currently owned him. Despite attempts, we were never able to reach them and Poseidon left with a rescue group after his stray hold.
The reality is that stories like Poseidon's are far more common than people realize. We often hear concerns about redemption rates or questions about why more lost pets aren't reclaimed. The truth is that our staff works incredibly hard to find owners. Every stray animal that enters our care is immediately scanned for a microchip. If one is found, we call, email, and make every effort possible to make contact. But many times, owners have moved, changed phone numbers, rehomed the pet, or simply aren't searching for them.
We know our system is not perfect and we are constantly looking for ways to improve our processes and outcomes. The ongoing issue with photos not consistently appearing on our website has been frustrating for community members and staff alike. While that issue is being worked on, we have begun uploading stray pets to Petco Love Lost as an additional tool to help increase visibility and reunite more pets with their families.
You can help us improve outcomes by:
✅ Microchipping your pets
✅ Registering the microchip and keeping your contact information current
✅ Making sure any pet you rehome has updated ownership information
✅ Telling friends and family to do the same
✅ Sharing lost pet posts when you see them
Thank you to Mercedez and all of our staff members who work every day to give lost pets the best possible chance of finding their way home. ❤️
