The County Executive is authorized to establish an Animal Control Program. The appointing authority shall designate a person to perform the duties of Administrator of Animal Control. The County Executive is authorized to establish an Animal Services Facility and Adoption Center. The Administrator shall operate the Animal Services and Adoption Center for the detention, confinement, and disposition of animals in accordance with this Subtitle. The Administrator of Animal Control shall enforce the provisions of this Subtitle including, but not limited to, programs for animal control, animal licensing, vaccination, spaying and neutering, public education, cruelty prevention, euthanasia, and other duties and programs prescribed in this Subtitle.

The Administrator of Animal Control shall have operational responsibility for carrying out the duties prescribed in this Subtitle and for enforcing the provisions of this Subtitle. The Administrator shall be the Chief Animal Control Officer and Supervisor of the Animal Services and Adoption Center.

The Director, subject to the provisions of the Personnel Law and Labor Code, may appoint such numbers of persons as are authorized in the approved current expense budget to fill positions as he shall deem necessary. Animal Control Officers are authorized and empowered as follows: To enforce the Animal Control provisions of the Subtitle by impounding animals found at large, or animals injured, or found to be diseased, and by issuing notices of violations to the owners of such animals; (1.1) To enforce licensing and rabies inoculation requirements under the County Code; To enforce the cruelty and neglect prevention provisions of this Subtitle by removing and impounding mistreated animals and by issuing notices of violations to the person or persons inflicting cruelty and neglect upon animals; To administer emergency assistance or first aid to injured animals which come into the custody of the County, without the consent of the owner or owners of such animals. For this purpose, neither the individual Animal Control Officer administering such emergency assistance or first aid, or Prince George's County, Maryland, or any of its employees or agents shall be liable for acts committed or omitted in the course of rendering such emergency assistance or first aid; To conduct public education on proper and humane care, adoption, spaying and neutering, and vaccination programs as directed by the Administrator; To conduct inspections of animal holding facilities as directed by the Administrator; and To enforce programs as directed by the Administrator.

The Director shall promulgate comprehensive regulations prescribing standards for the operation of the Animal Services and Adoption Center, including, but not limited to, the housing, feeding, care, veterinary treatment, adoption, and humane destruction of animals in the center. In general, the operations of the Animal Services and Adoption Center, including the administration of euthanasia, shall be open to members of the general public. The Administrator may, however, restrict access to the Animal Services and Adoption Center by a person or persons when, in the judgment of the Administrator, the presence of such person or persons may adversely affect the safety or welfare of any person or may disrupt the efficient operation of the center. The Administrator, to the extent provided for in the approved current expense budget, shall provide for necessary and appropriate veterinary care of injured or sick animals in the custody of the County. Such veterinary care may be rendered without first obtaining the consent of the owner of the animal receiving such care. Veterinary care shall be rendered by a doctor of veterinary medicine licensed to practice in the State of Maryland except that members of the staff of the Animal Control program, including employees of contractors authorized by the Administrator to do so, may administer medication and veterinary nursing care as prescribed by a veterinarian; provided, however, that nothing in this Subsection shall be construed to affect or diminish the immunity granted by Section 3-104(b)(3). Any veterinarian, or program staff member, or contractors' employee who renders veterinary care, veterinary nursing care, or prescribes or administers medication as authorized by the Administrator shall not be liable, and Prince George's County, Maryland, and its employees and agents shall not be liable, for acts committed or omitted in rendering such care or in administering such medication. The Administrator, in accordance with the provisions of this Subtitle, may dispose of animals in custody by euthanasia. The regulations to be promulgated by the Director shall provide for the humane destruction of animals in custody. The regulations shall provide standards for the training of personnel for administering euthanasia, acceptable methods of euthanasia, and appropriate disposition of carcasses. The County Executive or his designee is authorized to make contracts for the disposition of animal carcasses upon such terms as, in the judgment of the County Executive, are most advantageous to the County. The Administrator shall not cause or knowingly permit any live animal in custody to be sold or given up for any experimental purposes. Companion animals shall not be sold or given up for commercial or experimental purposes.

The Director, from time to time and after consultation with the Director of Management and Budget and the Director of Finance, shall establish schedules or tariffs of charges for the housing, feeding, care, and veterinary treatment of animals which come into the custody of the Administrator. Such schedules and tariffs may be published or posted in a conspicuous place at the Animal Services and Adoption Center. Where the Administrator has ascertained the identity of the owner or custodian of an animal, the Administrator shall, as a precondition of the release of the animal, require the payment in advance by the owner or custodian of all charges for the care, feeding, housing, and veterinary treatment of the animal accrued through the date of redemption, and shall, as a further precondition of the release of the animal, also collect from the owner or custodian the unpaid license fees and fines provided for in this Subtitle. Where a security bond has been posted, the owner or custodian shall be entitled to a refund from Treasury for the amount remaining after charges for the care, feeding, housing, unpaid license fees and fines and veterinary treatment have been satisfied. Where the Administrator has ascertained the identity of the owner or custodian of an animal, and has duly notified said owner or custodian of the animal's impoundment, and said owner or custodian fails to redeem the animal from the custody of the County, the fees and fines as prescribed by this Subtitle shall be due and payable within 10 days of the animal becoming the property of the County. The Director, from time to time and after consultation with the Director of Management and Budget and the Director of Finance, shall establish charges for the adoption of animals which come into the custody of the Administrator. The Administrator shall also require the person adopting the animal to pay any license fees prescribed by this Subtitle and to prepay any spay or neutering fee. A person claiming a proprietary interest in any animal confined pursuant to Sections 3-122, 3-123, 3-131 through 3-138, 3-140, 3-141, 3-175, 3-176, 3-180, or Division 7 of this Subtitle may prevent disposition of the animal after the required holding period, pending a Commission for Animal Control hearing, by posting a bond, cash or corporate surety, with the Administrator prior to the expiration of the required holding period in an amount sufficient to secure payment for all reasonable expenses incurred in caring and providing for the animal, including estimated medical care, for at least thirty (30) days; provided, however, that such bond, cash or corporate surety, shall not prevent the Administrator from disposing of such animal at the end of the thirty (30) day period covered by the bond, cash or corporate surety, unless the person claiming an interest posts an additional bond, cash or corporate surety, with the Administrator to secure payment of reasonable expenses for an additional thirty (30) days, and does so prior to the expiration of the first 30-day period. Additional thirty (30) day extensions may be granted provided additional bond, cash or corporate surety, is posted prior to the extension of the previous posting. The amount of the bond shall be determined by the Administrator based on the current rate for board and on the condition of the animal after examination of the animal by a licensed veterinarian. At the conclusion of the case, the bond shall be forfeited to the County, except that the person claiming interest shall be entitled to a refund of the amount remaining after settlement of any reasonable expenses, fees, including veterinary fees, and fines. A person seeking judicial review of an order or action of the Commission for Animal Control, pursuant to Title 7 of the Maryland Rules, shall post a bond, cash or corporate surety sufficient to cover charges incurred to date for the care, feeding, housing and veterinary fees, or Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), whichever is greater. In the event said charges listed in Subsection (e)(2), above, exceed the amount posted with the court, the person claiming an interest in the animal shall be required to pay the additional fees.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and the Department of the Environment (DOE) shall create a study on the effects of wildlife displacement by the development of new land and reach out to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for any input on the study. The contents of the study are listed below: The types of wildlife that are displaced during the development of land; Identify any endangered animals that may be displaced during the development of land; The costs associated with the removal of the wildlife from the land; A estimated amount of costs that wildlife negatively impacts on the land which was developed, and developed lands within a reasonable amount distance; A estimated amount of costs that wildlife negatively impacts on the land which was developed, and developed lands within a reasonable distance; Identify and categorize areas based on the amount of wildlife present in those areas; and A formula that establishes reasonable fees that are proportioned and directly applicable to any reasonable wildlife costs incurred by any of the enumerated study requirements or what M-NCPPC and the Department of the Environment deems necessary to protect, control, and limit wildlife within the County. The M-NCPPC and the Department of the Environment shall provide the study within six (6) months of enactment. From time to time, the M-NCPPC, the Department of the Environment, and the Animal Control Administrator shall reevaluate the study and make recommendations to the County Council. The Wildlife Action Plan. The M-NCPPC, the Department of the Environment, and the Animal Control Administrator shall jointly create a comprehensive plan to address the wildlife displacement issues within the county. The plan shall include the following goals: Limiting wildlife displaced animals from encroaching and interfering with citizens' property; Controlling wildlife animal displacement where lands are developed in a manner that ensures minimal wildlife interference with citizens and their property; Protecting the displaced wildlife in a way that ensures they are kept safe for future generations to witness and enjoy; Increasing the role of animal control in limiting, controlling, and protecting the wildlife within the County; Animal Control's increased availability for wildlife calls from County residents; What the M-NCPPC, DOE, and the Animal Control Administrator deem necessary in limiting, controlling, and protecting the wildlife within the County; and From time to time, the Director of the Environment and the Animal Control Administrator shall reevaluate and update the Wildlife Action Plan as needed.