Baltimore County’s shelter has the right to euthanize any animal that comes into its care, Stone Hess said. The decision is made for space reasons or because an animal is sick or aggressive. But if the owner-requested euthanasia box is checked and the decision is made to euthanize, it does not count against the county’s quarterly live-release statistics.A Towson Times analysis found that if the owner-requested euthanasia rate were the same in 2018 as it was in 2015, keeping the total euthanasia rate the same, the live release rate for both cats and dogs could have fallen below the 90 percent threshold.