Animal Control Policies
Bergen County Animal Control continues to be committed to our mission of stopping the spread of zoonotic disease, the safe handling of lost and stray domestic animals, and the humane treatment of sick and injured wild animals.
For Residents: To report an off-leash complaint, barking or nuisance complaint, or request the removal of a deer carcass, please call your local police department and borough hall.
Responsibilities
We are a county-operated Shelter providing comprehensive animal control to over 50 communities in Bergen and Hudson counties. Our Animal Control team is made up of 14 state certified officers (ACOs) whose job it is to enforce municipal, county, state and federal laws concerning the care and treatment of animals and educate the public about animal safety.
In addition to State-mandated services (like rabies control, stray animal housing and care, confinement services for stray and owned animals involved in bite cases, and emergency veterinarian services for sick or injured domestic stray animals), Animal Control provides the following to our contracted towns:
- Fully-staffed animal control shifts, 24/7, 365 days per year. We are never on-call.
- Impoundment of stray, domestic animals, reptiles and birds
- Wildlife rescue including injured animals and orphaned juveniles
- Feral and dangerous animal trapping
- Disaster response in all emergencies
- Investigation of calls relevant to cruelty to animals and resolve problems by educating owners or pursue complaints in court as necessary
- Dead on Arrival (DOA) carcass removal from all municipal public areas
- Deer carcass removal from all public and private property free of charge
- Comprehensive feral cat Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) program
- Animal mobile adoption vehicle available for town and county events and community education services
- Fully equipped, temperature controlled vehicles that are 100% compliant with current state requirements
Animal Control is not a pest control service and will not remove healthy wildlife from any property. An ACO can remove wildlife from living quarters for a fee payable by the resident at the time of the service.
Animal Control can be reached 24/7, 365 directly at 201-229-4616 or through the Bergen County Public Safety Dispatch Center at 201-785-8505.
Service Areas
The following towns have animal control contracts with Bergen County Animal Shelter and we will accept stray domestic animals from any of these towns:
| Contracted Towns: | ||
| Alpine | Harrington Park | Ridgefield |
| Bogota | Harrison (Hudson County) | Ridgefield Park |
| Carlstadt | Hasbrouck Heights | River Edge |
| Closter | Haworth | River Vale |
| Creskill | Kearny (Hudson County) | Rochelle Park |
| Demarest | Leonia | Rockleigh |
| Dumont | Little Ferry | Saddle Brook |
| Edgewater | Lodi | South Hackensack |
| Elmwood Park | Lyndhurst | Teaneck |
| Englewood | Maywood | Tenafly |
| Englewood Cliffs | Moonachie | Teterboro |
| Fair Lawn | New Milford | Upper Saddle River |
| Fairview | North Arlington | Wallington |
| Fort Lee | Norwood | Westwood |
| Garfield | Oradell | Woodcliff Lake |
| Hackensack | Palisades Park | Wood-Ridge |
| Palisades Interstate Parkway | ||
| Park Ridge | ||
If you find a stray in any other town, please contact the local police for the animal control contractor for that town.