Lost and found pets

Losing a pet can be a traumatic experience for both the owner and the pet. By identifying and registering your cat or dog with the City of Ottawa, you are helping to ensure that your pet is reunited with you if it becomes lost. It has been our experience that a cat or dog with a registration tag attached to its collar/harness is often returned to the owner the same day that it is found. Without one, the owner must search all nearby shelters and animal hospitals looking for his/her cat or dog.

As soon as you notice that your cat or dog is missing, immediately check around your home and neighbourhood. Ask friends and neighbours if they have seen your pet and if so, when and where. If your pet is not found after your initial search, contact the City of Ottawa at 3-1-1 or the Ottawa Humane Society at 613-725-3166 ext. 223 to file a lost pet report. Be prepared to provide a description of your pet, a registration tag number, and a microchip number, if applicable.

Visit the local animal shelter in person and bring a colour photograph of your pet. The local shelter is at the Ottawa Humane Society located at 245 West Hunt Club Road, Nepean. If your pet is not wearing a tag or does not have microchip identification, only you can visibly identify your missing pet. Make sure you also check your local veterinary clinics as, often, residents who find a lost pet, take it to the nearest animal hospital.

Place notices, preferably with a photograph of your missing pet, at local stores and animal hospitals. Place your own advertisements in the lost and found sections of the local newspapers and ask the local radio and cable stations if they will mention your lost pet. Don't give up. Sometimes a lost cat or dog will turn up months later.

If your pet is not found after your initial search:

• File a lost pet request online or
• Contact the City of Ottawa at 3-1-1 or the Ottawa Humane Society at 613-725-3166 ext. 223 to file a lost pet request.

If you have found a lost cat/dog and it is wearing a City of Ottawa registration tag, contact the City at 3-1-1. By-law Services staff are available to check the database to locate the registered owner during the following hours of operation:

May long weekend to Labour Day:

7 days a week – 6 am to 2 am

Other times of year:

Sunday to Thursday – 6 am to 2 am

Friday and Saturday – 6 am to 4 am

If you have found a cat/dog that is not wearing a City of Ottawa tag, please take it to the Ottawa Humane Society (613-725-3166 – call first for hours of operation) or call 3-1-1 if you require assistance. The pet will be scanned for a microchip, which may provide information on the registered owner and can be checked against lost animal reports.

If you find an animal that has been hit by a car, contact the City of Ottawa at 3-1-1.

If you find a dead animal in a public place such as near a road or in a park, file a dead animal request.