Sep 3, 2026

Lost Dog in Park City: Five Days, and a Drive to Wanship

Option 5 on the county line, a five-day clock, and roughly $165 to collect a dog held over a weekend. Plus the two animal control numbers in circulation.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Park City, Utah9 min readGetting TherePet Care & Services

Summit County holds a found dog for five days while it tries to trace the owner. That is the clock, and it is stated plainly, which puts Park City ahead of several cities in this series where no hold period is published at all.

The complication is geography and phone numbers. The shelter is in Wanship, not Park City, and the city and the county publish different numbers for the same animal control service.

Every number, because two governments disagree

Summit County's own animal control page gives, verbatim: "Reach out to us at (435)-336-3985" and the email [email protected].

For lost pets specifically, verbatim from the county's lost and found page: "If you recognize any of the pets below, please contact 435-336-3985 OPTION 5."

Option 5, which is the detail that saves you a phone tree.

After hours, verbatim from the animal control page: "If you have found an animal after hours, please call Summit County Non-Emergency Dispatch at 435-615-3601"

And Park City's own page publishes a different set. Verbatim from the city's dogs page:

"Summit County Animal Control: 435-615-3985" "After-hours or Holidays, Summit County Sheriff Dispatch: 435-615-3600" "Park City Police Dispatch: 435-615-5500" "For all Emergencies: 911"

So there are two animal control numbers and two after-hours numbers in circulation, each published by a government body. Start with the county's, since it is the county's own service, and try the city's if that fails.

Where the dog goes

Verbatim from the animal control page:

"We are located at:" "1745 S Hoytsville Road" "Wanship, UT 84017"

Wanship is roughly twenty miles from Park City, out along I-80 toward Coalville. That is a real drive, and it is worth knowing before you are making it in a hurry.

Counter hours are shorter than officer hours. The counter opens Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the page adds, verbatim: "Closed Sundays & holidays*". Officers are available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Sunday. We are paraphrasing both because the county separates the times with a dash our house style does not print.

Which means a Sunday loss is an officer call, not a counter visit.

The five-day clock

Verbatim from the lost and found page:

"Animal Control's first priority is to try and reunite lost animals with their owners. If the owner cannot be found after 5 days, shelter staff assess the animal's health and temperament and determine if it's safe for adoption."

Five days to be found, then an assessment for adoption. The county also states, verbatim: "We also work with local and statewide rescue organizations to help rehome as many animals as possible."

And the county publishes found animals online, verbatim: "Our website is updated daily. If there are no pets listed on this page, it means we were thankfully able to reunite those pets with their owners."

Daily updates, and an empty page is good news rather than a broken page. When we read it, the page carried a "Last updated on 08/31/26" line.

There is also a form, verbatim: "If you do not see your missing pet below and would like to alert our staff, please fill out this form ." The county's animal control page describes the same route, verbatim: "If you or someone you know has lost their pet and wants to alert our team. Please fill out this form ."

What it costs to get your dog back

The county publishes this too, on its fee schedule.

Impound fees, dogs and cats	Amount
1st offence	$35
2nd offence	$45
3rd offence	$55
Each subsequent	$85

Plus boarding at $10 a day.

And a possible citation on top. The county's citation schedule sets running at large at $100 for a first offence, $150 for a second and $200 for a third, with a note doubling fines for an unsterilised dog. Our Summit County dog fines guide covers the whole list.

So a Friday-evening escape collected on Monday is an impound fee, three days of boarding and potentially an at-large fine. Roughly $165 before any doubling, on the published figures.

One route back. The citation page states that a person receiving a citation may request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, and that the judge may dismiss violations on proof of compliance.

The first hour

Call the county on (435) 336-3985, option 5. Do it immediately rather than after you have searched, because the five-day clock may already be running.

Then check the county's found-pets page, which is updated daily.

Search downhill and along water. Park City sits in a bowl of drainages, and a frightened dog follows the easy line: creek corridors, ditch paths, golf course edges, the rail trail.

Ring the veterinary clinics. A dog hit by a car goes to a vet, not a shelter. Our emergency vets in Park City guide covers who is open when, including the fact that we could not verify a 24-hour hospital in Park City itself.

And check the microchip registration is current. Our microchipping your pet guide covers the registries, and a chip pointing at an old address is the commonest reason a scanned dog stays lost.

The tag is faster than the chip

Two county duties put identification on your dog, and both help a finder.

Verbatim from the county's animal control FAQ: "All dogs living in Summit County MUST be licensed." And: "Owners should attach the tags to the collar of their dog and make sure that the collar and the tags are constantly worn."

A tag needs a phone. A chip needs a scanner and a trip. A licence costs $12 for a year for an altered dog, or $20 for three years where the rabies vaccine runs that long, and a replacement tag is $5. Our Summit County dog licence guide covers the process.

Where Park City dogs actually go missing

Off an off-leash area. The county's rule allows an e-collar plus voice and sight control off your own property, and the city and district designate seven dog areas between them. The freedom is real and so is the failure mode. Our Park City leash law guide covers the conditions, and our Basin Recreation dog parks guide covers the four district sites, including 43-acre Run-A-Muk where there is no fence anywhere.

After wildlife. Deer, elk and moose all move through this valley, and the county's own prohibition on chasing exists because dogs do it. A chase that starts at a trailhead can end two drainages away.

Out of a rental. In a town where much of the housing turns over weekly, a dog in an unfamiliar condominium with an unfamiliar door is a flight risk. Our visiting Park City with a dog guide covers the visitor side.

And in winter, off a snow-covered trail where the usual scent lines and boundaries are buried. Our dogs in winter in Park City guide covers the season.

If you have found a dog

Check for a tag first. In a licensed county, a tag is the single fastest route home.

Call the county on (435) 336-3985, or the after-hours dispatch number if the office is shut.

And know that the county draws a line about surrenders, verbatim: "Summit County Animal Control does not accept pet surrenders from non-county residences. Proof of ID must be shown."

Also worth knowing: "Harboring a stray dog" is a $100 line on the county's citation schedule. Keeping a found dog quietly is not neutral, and reporting it is what puts it in the system its owner is searching.

What the county does when it picks a dog up

Two details from the county's own pages that shape how a search ends.

The shelter tries to trace you first. Verbatim: "Animal Control's first priority is to try and reunite lost animals with their owners." That is why a tag matters more than anything else you can do in advance: it turns a five-day process into a phone call.

And after five days the animal is assessed rather than simply rehomed. Verbatim: "shelter staff assess the animal's health and temperament and determine if it's safe for adoption." The county adds that it works with local and statewide rescue organisations "to help rehome as many animals as possible".

One thing the county is firm about, verbatim: "Summit County Animal Control does not accept pet surrenders from non-county residences. Proof of ID must be shown." That is aimed at surrenders rather than found animals, but it tells you the shelter checks who it is dealing with.

A practical note on the geography. Because the shelter sits in Wanship rather than Park City, a dog picked up in town is driven out of town. If you are searching locally on the same afternoon your dog went missing, the dog may already be twenty miles away, which is the strongest argument for calling before you search rather than after.

The five-minute prevention list

Licence and tag on the collar. Required, cheap, and the fastest identification there is.

Microchip details current today, not when you next move.

A photograph of your dog standing, side on, in daylight. That is what a flyer and a shelter listing need.

Both county numbers in your phone, plus the after-hours one.

And a leash carried even when your dog is off lead, which the county requires anyway and which matters most in the moment you need to catch a dog that has just remembered it can run.

Our emergency pet info card and pet emergency preparedness checklist templates hold all of that in one place, which matters most when the person searching is a sitter rather than you.

Frequently asked questions

How long does Summit County hold a lost dog? Five days. The county states that if the owner cannot be found after five days, shelter staff assess the animal's health and temperament and determine whether it is safe for adoption.

Who do I call about a lost dog in Park City? Summit County Animal Control on (435) 336-3985, using option 5 for lost pets. After hours, the county gives Summit County Non-Emergency Dispatch on 435-615-3601. Park City's own page publishes 435-615-3985 for animal control and 435-615-3600 for Sheriff Dispatch.

Why are there two different animal control numbers? The county publishes (435) 336-3985 on its own animal control pages, while the City of Park City publishes 435-615-3985 on its dogs page. Both are official, so try the county's first.

Where is the animal shelter? Summit County Animal Control is at 1745 S Hoytsville Road, Wanship, UT 84017, roughly twenty miles from Park City.

What are the shelter's hours? The counter opens Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and is closed Sundays and holidays. Animal Control Officers are available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Sunday.

Does the county list found pets online? Yes. The county states that its website is updated daily, and that an empty page means the pets listed were reunited with their owners.

Sources

Numbers and fees change, and two governments currently publish different numbers for the same service. Confirm before relying on either.