Lost pet help in Nanaimo, British Columbia

Who to call first in Nanaimo

Pickup and bylaw enforcement
Nanaimo Animal Control Services, the city’s contracted animal control service, 250-616-0233
Where a picked-up animal is held
Nanaimo Animal Control Services, 250-616-0233

The City of Nanaimo contracts its animal control service, including the running of the pound, and publishes one number for both a lost dog and a found dog.

Dogs and cats are not always the same answer. The city’s page is specifically about lost or found dogs and sits under its dog licensing section.

Out of hours. For after-hours emergencies the city says to call the same number, 250-616-0233, and follow the recorded message.

The city publishes the service and its number but does not name or locate the pound facility, and says nothing about cats. For a missing cat, contact the BC SPCA Nanaimo centre and ask — do not assume the city holds it. Note also that the Regional District of Nanaimo, outside the city, uses a different service.

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

Two organisations in this directory name Nanaimo in the area they cover: BC SPCA Nanaimo and Nanaimo Animal Control Services.

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

Further down the page, four organisations cover British Columbia 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.

11 organisations

In Nanaimo 2

These organisations name Nanaimo in the area they cover.

Shelters and humane societies 1

Municipal animal services 1

Covering all of British Columbia 4

Canada-wide 5

Registries and national bodies that work anywhere in the country.

Nearest emergency vets 2

No emergency veterinary clinic in Nanaimo is listed here. These are the nearest ones in the verified set, and they are in Langford and Victoria — a different municipality, not Nanaimo.

Emergency capacity and availability change — phone before travelling.

All emergency vets in Canada

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