Worcester County, MD Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (2026)

Wild animal control in unincorporated Worcester County sits in a single short section of the Animal Control Subtitle. Section PS 2-104 states that, subject to state and federal preemption, the Animal Control Warden or Sheriff, as designated under § PS 2-101 to administer the Subtitle, has the responsibility to seize, destroy, and control wild animals, other than deer, causing damage or danger to citizens of the County or sojourners herein. The trigger is damage or danger. The section does not name coyotes, foxes or any other species, does not describe hazing, and does not address feeding. Deer are carved out of the section entirely.

Two guardrails limit what the Warden does. First, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources must be consulted with respect to the handling of wild animals and must be made aware of such efforts. Second, no wild animal can be placed for adoption without the approval of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The opening phrase, subject to state and federal preemption, keeps the county power beneath whatever state and federal wildlife law already controls.

Related authority comes from § PS 2-101. Under subsection (c) the Commissioners administer the Subtitle and delegate powers to an Animal Control Warden or Deputy Wardens, who have all the powers of a peace officer, and the County Sheriff is charged with cooperating fully and assisting. Under subsection (e), the Warden can immediately destroy, without impoundment, any wild animal believed to be rabid, and where the officer cannot seize vicious, wild or rabid dogs or cats after reasonable effort, he can destroy them in as humane a manner as possible.

Private action is narrower. Section PS 2-101(k) makes it unlawful for any person to administer poison to any animal or to knowingly place or leave any poisonous substance of any kind or ground glass in any place with intent to injure or kill any animal. Section PS 2-101(m) provides that no person shall willfully kill any animal not owned by him except as may be expressly permitted by law. Property in commercial agricultural use and livestock are addressed separately in § PS 2-101(d).