Lost and Found Pets

Recovering a Lost Animal?

If you pet is lost, these are the best ways to increase your chances of finding them.

Review found pets

Check our Found Pets Facebook page to view animals who are currently at the Hamilton Animal Services shelter to see if someone has already found your pet. We post information about all found pets.

Create a lost pet report with Animal Services

Contact Hamilton Animal Services to leave a report: 905-574-3433 from Monday to Friday: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Attend the shelter in person

Visit us at 247 Dartnall Rd, Hamilton, ON with current identification and a description of your pet, and anything they may have been wearing when it was lost. A good photo is a big help!

Even after reaching out to Animal Services you are still responsible for looking for your pet. You can try the following:

• Put up lost pet posters in your neighbours’ mailboxes up to 10 blocks away from your home.

• If your pet has a microchip, call the microchip company to make sure your address and phone numbers are up to date.

• Consider posting lost reports on Kijiji, Craigslist, Facebook and local newspapers. You should look at the found reports on these sites too.

Traveling out of town?

Email us at [email protected] and let us know. Tell us the name of your pet sitter and/or an alternate way to get in touch with you, in case your pet goes missing.

Once your pet has been found

Update Hamilton Animal Services at 905-574-3433 and remove all flyers you have posted in your neighbourhood.

What to do if you find a lost pet

Call Animal Services to report the animal 905-574-3433

• Report the animal even if it has an identification or licence tag, as it may be expired. 
• You must notify Animal Services if you find a pet and are keeping it at your residence while you try to find its owner. The pet's owner might be searching for it at the shelter.
• Write out a complete description of the found animal before you contact the shelters; this helps ensure you won't forget any important details while filing your report.
• We can often reunite lost pets with their owners by matching a Lost Report with a Found Report.

Check with your neighbours

See if they are missing a pet.

Scan the animal for a microchip

The animal shelter or a veterinarian's office can scan the chip to help determine the owner.

What does the City do with found pets?

• We post found pets on our Found Pets Facebook page within a few hours of arriving at the shelter.
• We post deceased animals on our Found Pets Facebook page for up to 48 hours.
• We will keep found pets for 5 days.
• We house and care for found pets so the owner has time to claim them.
• We assess pets not claimed for 5 days for the adoption program, animal rescue or euthanasia.
• We check all animals, alive or deceased, for a microchip, tattoo or identification tag. We try to contact the owner using this information.

Follow us on Facebook to see the happy owners who were reunited with their animals this week.

What to do if you find a dead animal

• Call Animal Services at 905-574-3433 to report a dead animal.

• Call your Veterinarian if your pet comes into contact with a dead animal.

• Call Public Health Services at 905-546-3570 if you think the dead animal poses a health risk to people. 

• Call Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food at 1-877-424-1300, if your pet has had a fight or was attacked (bitten or scratched) by wildlife and there is no human involvement.