Hamilton Animal Services

The City of Hamilton's own animal services and shelter at 247 Dartnall Road — the number to call for a stray in Hamilton, and the place a found animal is held. Animal Control Officer response runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What to do here

Call 905-574-3433 — and then go in person. The City states that shelter staff cannot take calls at weekends and that you must attend in person to search for a missing animal, and that the after-hours call centre cannot tell you which animals are in the shelter. Its own advice is blunter still: the online found-pets listing is "for reference only and may not reflect every animal at the shelter at all times", so it advises visiting in person to view all animals in care. Viewing hours are Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 2pm, closed statutory holidays.

The clock is five days. The City says it holds found animals for 5 days including the day they arrive, and that pets not claimed after 5 days are assessed for the adoption program, animal rescue or euthanasia. A traceable microchip or licence buys more time — stray animals with identification are held a minimum of 5 days and up to 10 days, space permitting — and a current City licence can skip the shelter altogether, because the City says that if it picks up a pet wearing a current animal licence, Animal Services will drive your pet home.

Bring identification with your name and current address, a leash or carrier, and expect to pay impound and boarding fees, any veterinary bills at cost, and a dog licence fee if the dog is not already licensed. If you have FOUND a pet, call the same number to report it even if it is wearing a tag, because the tag may be expired — and the City says you must notify Animal Services if you are keeping a found pet at home while you look for its owner, since the owner may be searching for it at the shelter.

Compiled from the City of Hamilton's own found-pets, lost-and-found-pets, stray-animals and animals-and-pets pages, all re-fetched 4 October 2026. The City runs this service itself; the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA is a separate charity and is listed separately. Hold periods and fees are set by the City and change — confirm by phone. How the City handles a healthy unowned cat is deliberately not stated here: its lost-and-found pages cover pets rather than community cats, and it publishes a separate Community Cats path we have not restated as an intake rule. Last checked 4 October 2026. Details change without notice — confirm anything you are about to rely on.

One organisation is never the whole search

A pet is found by whoever happens to be nearby, so the shelter, the city, the registry and the local search groups each hold a different piece. Work the list rather than one entry on it.

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