Salt Lake County Animal Services is dedicated to providing consistent, reliable, and professional solutions for animal related issues. We provide essential food, shelter, and medical care to unsheltered pets until they can be reunited with their owner or placed in a forever home. Not only do our programs serve stray animals, but we also dedicate many resources to helping owned pets stay in their homes. Below are some of our programs. Keep reading to see how your participation can serve the pets in our community.

Ways to Help Stray Pets:

Fostering: We are always looking for foster homes, especially during kitten season (April-October). Fosters provide a temporary home to dogs and cats for a variety of reasons. Foster care can be necessary for dogs who need help with manners, animals with medical needs, unweaned kittens, and more. Please consider opening your home to animals in need, even a short stay can make a tremendous difference. Email foster@slco.org for more information.

Volunteering: Volunteering with Salt Lake County Animal Services helps us improve the lives of homeless pets. There are many ways to volunteer at the shelter, but all directly benefit the animals, reduce their stress, and ultimately make them more adoptable. We can work with you to find something that suits your needs/skills, and volunteer projects you can complete alone or with a group. Email animalvolunteer@slco.org for more information.

Hounds Around Town: Hounds Around Town is Salt Lake County Animal Services’ award-winning program that allows you to take a shelter pet out of the shelter for a day of adventure. After receiving two hours of training, volunteers spoil a shelter pup with fun activities such as going on a relaxing walk or devouring a puppuchino. These adventures help alleviate excess energy and stress and improve the dog’s chance of getting adopted. Email animalvolunteer@slco.org for more information.

Ways to Help Your Pet:

Microchipping: Every pet in Salt Lake County can receive a FREE microchip with proof of a current pet license. This microchip is good for the lifetime of your pet. There are no additional microchipping fees associated. Microchips are inserted on a walk-in basis during our open hours of operation: Tues-Sat, 10 AM – 6 PM. Microchips are one of the best ways to reunite a lost animal with their owner and can be read by any vet clinic or shelter.

Licensing: Licensing you pet is not only required by Utah law but is also one of the best ways to reunite a lost pet with their owner. A licensing tag helps us easily identify a pet and verify that we are releasing them to their rightful owner. For pets in Salt Lake County Animal Service’s jurisdiction, there is an annual licensing fee of $50 for unsterilized pets and $25 for sterilized pets.