Fairfax County Animal Services

Animal shelter’s Fairfax campus to temporarily close for HVAC renovations

Published August 19, 2026 at 2:45PM

Fairfax County Animal Shelter on West Ox Road (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Fairfax County Animal Shelter’s Michael R. Frey campus in Fairfax will soon close for about six months as the Ox Road facility undergoes building improvements and HVAC system updates.

Beginning Aug. 31, services such as reunifications with a lost pet and pet pantry requests will move to the shelter’s Lorton campus (8875 Lorton Road), according to the animal shelter’s website. Animals housed by the shelter will also move to the Lorton campus. Field services, community outreach events and off-site events will not be affected by the closure.

Great horned owlets rescued after falling from nest in Huntley Meadows Park

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published June 3, 2026 at 3:45PM | Updated June 3, 2026 at 8:58PM

Great horned owlets rescued at Huntley Meadows Park are placed in a basket (courtesy Ralph Fielder)

A pair of great horned owlets were recently re-nested and reunited with their parents after falling out of their nests in Hybla Valley’s Huntley Meadows Park.

The owlets’ troubles began after one of the pair — who were likely only a few weeks old — fell out of the nest earlier this spring. After park visitors reported the issue, the bird was quickly taken to a rehabber in Boyce, Virginia.

Squirrelly discovery in Fairfax resident’s car highlights spring uptick in animal encounters

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published April 28, 2026 at 3:45PM

Baby squirrels inside a basket after Fairfax County Animal Services removed them from a car in March 2026 (courtesy Fairfax County Animal Services)

When a Fairfax resident turned on the engine of his car and saw every warning light come on, that was his first problem. The second was figuring out what to do with the baby squirrels curled up inside a nest in the engine bay.

“He called Animal Services for help,” Thomas Ingle, chief field services officer and deputy director of Fairfax County Animal Services, told FFXnow. “And when the animal services officer gets there, she realizes that there are babies in there and the mom is nowhere to be found.”