Animal Control & Animal Shelter

Responsibilities

The Guilderland Animal Control unit is overseen by the police department and is staffed with two full-time civilian Animal Control Officers (ACOs) who are responsible for handling all animal-related calls in the town. The ACOs also act as first response officers for the Albany County Department of Health and New York State Environmental Conservation (ENCON). Animal Control Officers enforce those laws as well as town of Guilderland ordinances, and Agriculture and Markets laws.

In addition to enforcing ordinances and other laws, the Animal Control Officers also perform other duties including, removing injured or deceased animals from town roads and handling other animal calls including dogs running at large.

Shelter Adoptions

Animals available for adoption are posted on our Facebook page.

Dog Licenses

Town of Guilderland Local Law 120-21 requires that all dogs in the Town must be licensed with the Town Clerk by the age of four months in a form prescribed by the Town Clerk. Owners are required to present a current certificate of rabies at the time of licensing or the renewal of an existing license showing that the dog has been vaccinated to prevent rabies or, in lieu thereof, a statement certified by a licensed veterinarian stating that because of old age or other reason, the life of the dog would be endangered by the administration of the vaccine.

The local penalty for failure to license a dog is $150. In addition, owners are required to keep the license up to date by renewing annually to avoid possible penalty under law.

For more information contact the Town of Guilderland Clerk's office at 518-356-1980.

Visiting Hours

The Shelter hours are 10 am to 3:30 pm on Monday through Friday and 9 am to 1 pm. Saturday and Sunday for those seeking to find a lost pet, or adopt a new one. During those hours emergency calls will sometimes require staff to be in other locations. Those planning on visiting the shelter are encouraged to call prior to coming.