I found a pet. Who should I contact?
Somewhere nearby, someone is searching. Tell this page what you found, where, and what state the animal is in, and it names the organisations that cover that area in the order to try them. Nothing you enter is saved or published.
Found a pet in Hamilton, Ontario
An animal, injured or cannot be approached.
Right now
- Do not try to handle an animal that is injured, frightened or will not let you near it. The pillar guide is blunt about this: call animal services rather than handling it yourself.
- A frightened or injured animal can bite, including one that looks calm. If you are already holding it, keep it contained somewhere quiet and away from your own pets.
- Any veterinary clinic can be phoned directly for an injured animal. Where this directory has a verified emergency veterinary clinic in or near the place you found the animal, it is named below. Emergency capacity and availability change, so phone before travelling.
Who to contact, in this order
Every organisation below is in this directory and covers Hamilton, Ontario. Phone numbers and links are theirs.
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1
Emergency vets
An emergency veterinary clinic is the one kind of organisation here that is set up for an animal that needs veterinary attention outside an ordinary appointment.
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Hamilton Region Emergency Veterinary Clinic
Emergency veterinary clinic in Hamilton, Ontario.
Covers Hamilton, Ontario
Call 905-529-1004 — Hamilton Region Emergency Veterinary Clinic
Visit website of Hamilton Region Emergency Veterinary Clinic (opens in a new tab) Details of Hamilton Region Emergency Veterinary Clinic
Emergency capacity and availability change — phone before travelling.
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2
Municipal animal services
Municipal animal services is the service to call when an animal cannot be approached or handled safely.
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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.
Covers Hamilton, Ontario
Call 905-574-3433 — Hamilton Animal ServicesOne number covers everything: Animal Control Officer response 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, plus lost and found enquiries Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm. Shelter at 247 Dartnall Road, Hamilton ON L8W 3V9
Report a found pet at Hamilton Animal Services (opens in a new tab) Details of Hamilton Animal Services
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Shelters and humane societies
A shelter or humane society nearby may be able to take the animal in, and will scan it for a microchip at no charge.
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Hamilton/Burlington SPCA
An independent animal welfare charity for Hamilton and Burlington. It is not Hamilton’s animal control — its own site sends by-law concerns to the City.
Covers Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario
Call 905-574-7722 — Hamilton/Burlington SPCAShelter line
Visit website of Hamilton/Burlington SPCA (opens in a new tab) Details of Hamilton/Burlington SPCA
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Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
Covers the province
A provincial network of animal centres and affiliated humane societies across Ontario.
Covers Ontario
Call 705-728-7311 — Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
Visit website of Ontario SPCA and Humane Society (opens in a new tab) Details of Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
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Search and recovery specialists
A search and recovery specialist is equipped for an animal that will not be caught.
This directory has no search and recovery specialists filed for Hamilton, Ontario yet. See every search and recovery specialists in Canada
A found animal belongs with its owner, and the route back is the local municipal animal shelter, animal control or the shelter holding that municipality’s contract — so report the animal and arrange to turn it over to them rather than keeping it. Opening hours, intake practices, how long a found animal is held and how each organisation wants to hear from you are set by that organisation, not by this directory. The pillar guide’s advice is to ask them directly: what is the stray hold period here, and what happens at the end of it? Those rules are set locally, so the answer is theirs to give.
Start from the situation you are in
Four situations, each with what to do in the next few minutes and which kind of organisation to try first.
The animal is injured, or I cannot safely approach it
- Do not try to handle an animal that is injured, frightened or will not let you near it. The pillar guide is blunt about this: call animal services rather than handling it yourself.
- A frightened or injured animal can bite, including one that looks calm. If you are already holding it, keep it contained somewhere quiet and away from your own pets.
- Any veterinary clinic can be phoned directly for an injured animal. Where this directory has a verified emergency veterinary clinic in or near the place you found the animal, it is named below. Emergency capacity and availability change, so phone before travelling.
Contact, in this order Emergency vets → Municipal animal services → Shelters and humane societies → Search and recovery specialists
The animal has a tag, a licence or I think it is chipped
- If there is a phone number on the tag, call it. Do not remove the collar or the tags: they are identifying features.
- A scan is free, and it is first. Any veterinary clinic or shelter will scan for a microchip at no charge and without an appointment.
- Ask for a full body scan and, if nothing is found, for a multi-frequency scanner. Chips migrate, and not every scanner reads every chip standard.
- A chip number is a starting point, not an answer. Many chips are never registered, or are registered to contact details that are years out of date.
Contact, in this order Shelters and humane societies → Municipal animal services → Microchip registries → Emergency vets
It looks like a stray and it is still loose
- Approach slowly, crouch side on, and let the animal come to you rather than reaching over its head. If it will not be approached, call animal services rather than handling it yourself.
- Many outdoor cats are perfectly fine and are not lost at all — the lost cat guide covers how to tell a stray from a neighbour's pet.
- Photograph the animal straight away, from a few angles, before anything about its appearance changes.
Contact, in this order Municipal animal services → Shelters and humane societies → Community search groups
I have the animal safe with me
- Report the animal, and arrange to turn it over to the local municipal animal shelter, animal control, or the shelter that holds the municipal contract for that area. A found animal is not yours to keep: the stray hold process that reunites it with its owner runs through that authority, and an owner working the system phones shelters, not neighbours.
- Report it and hand it over to the shelter or animal services that covers the place you FOUND the animal, not the place you live. Those are often different jurisdictions.
- If that organisation cannot take the animal in straight away, ask them what they want you to do and follow their instruction — some will ask you to hold it short term while the found report stands. That call is theirs to make, not yours, and it is a temporary arrangement rather than a decision to keep the animal.
- Get the animal scanned for a microchip. A scan is free at any veterinary clinic or shelter, with no appointment.
- While the animal is still with you, keep it completely separate from your own pets, and offer water. Do not bathe, groom or cut off a collar — those are identifying features.
Contact, in this order Shelters and humane societies → Municipal animal services → Community search groups → Microchip registries
A found animal belongs with its owner, and the route back is the local municipal animal shelter, animal control or the shelter holding that municipality’s contract — so report the animal and arrange to turn it over to them rather than keeping it. Opening hours, intake practices, how long a found animal is held and how each organisation wants to hear from you are set by that organisation, not by this directory. The pillar guide’s advice is to ask them directly: what is the stray hold period here, and what happens at the end of it? Those rules are set locally, so the answer is theirs to give.
Or start from where you found it
Pick the place you found the animal, not the place you live — the organisation that covers where it went missing is the one a searching owner calls. Five provinces and territories have no city page yet, so the province page is the one to use there.
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon
Before you hand the animal to anyone
Finding a pet puts you on the receiving end of the same scripts a lost owner gets. The site’s own guidance on this is short.
- Post one photo and a general description, and deliberately keep one identifying detail back — a scar, a marking, the colour of the collar, a notch in an ear.
- Ask anyone who claims the animal to describe that withheld detail before you agree to meet.
- Ask for a photo of them with the animal, or vet records in their name.
- Meet in a public place, or at the shelter or a vet clinic.
- Never hand an animal over in exchange for money, and never pay to get one back.
Read next
This page is the shortcut to the phone calls. The guides are where the detail is.
Know a shelter, animal service or search group that should be in this directory?