Lost pet help in Hamilton, Ontario

Who to call first in Hamilton

Pickup and bylaw enforcement
Hamilton Animal Services (municipal), 905-574-3433
Where a picked-up animal is held
City of Hamilton Animal Services shelter, 247 Dartnall Road, 905-574-3433

The city runs its own animal services and its own shelter. The Hamilton/Burlington SPCA is a separate charity — its own site sends animal by-law concerns to this City number.

Dogs and cats are not always the same answer. Dogs: report a stray dog to Animal Services, and officer response for dogs at large runs 24/7. Cats: the City asks residents NOT to bring unowned community cats to Animal Services unless they are sick, injured or aggressive, so a healthy loose cat is deliberately outside the City’s intake path.

Out of hours. Animal Control Officer response for dogs at large, animals in distress and deceased animals is 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 905-574-3433. The after-hours call centre cannot tell you which animals are in the shelter — ring back in office hours for that.

Checked against the City of Hamilton’s own found-pets page on 4 October 2026 — read it yourself. Services and contracts change — confirm before you travel.

Two organisations in this directory name Hamilton in the area they cover: Hamilton Animal Services and Hamilton/Burlington SPCA.

Between them they are municipal animal services and shelters and humane societies.

Further down the page, two organisations cover Ontario as a whole and five work Canada-wide.

Opening hours, intake practices and how each organisation wants to hear from you are set by that organisation, not by this directory — check its own page or call before you travel.

In Hamilton 2

These organisations name Hamilton in the area they cover.

Shelters and humane societies 1

Municipal animal services 1

Covering all of Ontario 2

Canada-wide 5

Registries and national bodies that work anywhere in the country.

Emergency vets in Hamilton 1

Veterinary hospitals and clinics in Hamilton that run their own emergency service.

Emergency capacity and availability change — phone before travelling.

All emergency vets in Canada

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