Animal Shelters & Rescues in Portland

Portland's own shelter takes in stray animals, and private humane societies and volunteer rescues rehome pets too. Many rescues are foster-based and have no public building, so their pets are often seen by appointment or at adoption events.

The city animal shelter

In Portland, the public animal shelter is run by the county. Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) is the county's sole public animal shelter and control agency, and it serves the cities of Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village, Maywood Park and the unincorporated areas of the county. It handles lost, stray, injured and abandoned animals, adoption, and licensing for dogs and cats.

Found a stray or lost your pet

MCAS's found pet guide tells finders to look up the owner with the license lookup if the pet wears a Multnomah County tag, search the lost reports, submit a found report with a photo, ask neighbors and post fliers, and have the pet scanned for a microchip, which most vet clinics and shelters can do. Under the county animal code, an impounded animal that bears identification of ownership is held for 144 hours, and an animal with no identification known or reasonably determinable is held for 72 hours before any disposition may be made. The code lets the director euthanize any unlicensed and feral animal, or any unhealthy or injured animal, without regard to those holding periods, so contact the shelter right away if your pet is missing and may be hurt. If you want to keep a pet you found, the guide says the law requires certain steps first, and you can be declared the owner after 180 days once they are done; or you can ask the shelter to list you as first adopter.

Licenses and microchips

Under the county code, dogs and cats must be licensed within 30 days of reaching six months old, or of moving to the county or acquiring the animal, whichever is later. MCAS's licensing page says licenses go hand in hand with rabies vaccination in Oregon, and you can license at a participating vet, online with a photo or PDF of the rabies certificate, or by mail. The page says dogs and cats with a license and a microchip in Multnomah County are over 3.3 times more likely to be reunited with their owners than pets without.

Surrendering or rehoming a pet

MCAS's rehoming page says it primarily serves lost and stray animals and that voluntary owner-surrendered pets are not currently accepted. It asks owners to try friends and family, the place the pet came from, social media and rehoming websites, and other local shelters and rescues, which may require an appointment and may accept pets only on a space-available basis. If you live in the county and are in emergency circumstances, it asks you to call its client services team.

Adopting a pet

MCAS's adoption information says adopters must be 18 or older with a government-issued form of identification, that county residents buy a pet license for a dog or cat at the time of adoption, and that you should expect up to two hours for an in-person adoption. Pet-to-pet meetings are not available at the shelter, so leave your own pets at home. Meet a pet more than once if you can, ask about its history and behavior, and have your landlord's pet policy ready.

About these listings

Many listings here were added from public business data and have not been claimed yet. Ask the shelter or rescue directly about opening hours, adoptable pets and whether it takes surrenders. If you run one of these shelters or rescues, you can claim or correct its listing from its page.