Rumors on Montgomery Animal Shelter Closing Create Widespread Confusion

(UPDATED) First, the facts:

1. The Montgomery Animal Shelter in Montgomery Township, NJ is NOT closing.

2. The three animal shelters run by the SPCA in Montgomery County, PA are NOT closing.

3. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Clarksville, TN is NOT closing.

4. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Montgomery, AL is NOT closing.

5. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Troy, NC is NOT closing.

6. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Rockville, MD is NOT closing.

7. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Conroe, TX DID close this past Monday — at least insofar as the Humane Society was forced to move out due to lack of funding and the facility was taken over by the local police department — but all of its adoptable animals were rescued by members of the community before the shelter changed hands.

News of the Texas shelter closing spread quickly via Facebook and Twitter, with some of the specifics becoming lost or confused as the messages were posted and reposted. A typical version on Facebook read as follows:

Montgomery County Animal Shelter is closing tomorrow. You can adopt for free tomorrow between 12-4. They will be euthanizing all animals without a home!!! Go & save a life!! 30 cats and 80 dogs left please re-post.

Animal shelters in Montgomery County, PA, Montgomery County, TN, and Montgomery Township, NJ reported receiving an unusually high number of adoption requests as the erroneous messages continued to circulate yesterday and today.

Security warning: According to a report from the New Jersey Star-Ledger, a computer virus is being spread via websites set up to take advantage of Google traffic from searches related to this topic. Beware!

Read more:
• Conroe Humane Society Moves Out
• Despite False Rumor, Montco SPCA Is Running Just Fine
• Amid False Reports, Montgomery Animal Shelter Says It's Not Closing Its Doors
• Local Animal Shelter Staying Open
• Local Shelter Closing, Dooming Pets? No Way