Lost Pets and Stray Animals

If you find a stray animal or you are missing a pet, contact City of St. Thomas Animal Services at 519-631-7430.

If you find a stray dog or cat

You can bring a stray dog or cat to City of St. Thomas Animal Services for shelter.

If you find a feral cat, please review our Community Cat Program section for options. All stray cats must be friendly and safe for our staff to handle.

If you lost a dog or cat

When a dog or cat comes into our shelter as lost or stray, we scan them for a microchip. If we find one, we use it to contact the owner and return their pet.

If we do not find a microchip, we post the animal to our Facebook page to help identify them.

We recommend you microchip your dog or cat to help reunite you faster if they go missing.

Reclaim your pet

You can reclaim your dog or cat by paying the redemption fee. This fee covers impound charges and boarding, including any part of a day.

You must provide proof of ownership, such as photos, videos, vet records or vaccination records.

You have 72 hours from the time we impound your pet to reclaim them. After 72 hours, you forfeit your pet and all rights to them.

We screen all unclaimed pets for temperament and health once the redemption period ends.

Staff members are not always at the shelter throughout the day. Please call 519-631-7430 to book an appointment before you visit.

Community Cat Program

Understanding feral cats

Feral cats are the wild offspring of domestic cats. This usually happens when an owner does not spay or neuter their cat, or abandons a cat that is not spayed or neutered.

A female cat can have up to 3 litters per year, with up to 5 kittens per litter. These kittens can start breeding as early as 4 months old. This rapid breeding cycle leads to an overpopulation of free-roaming feral cats.

Our Trap-Neuter-Return program

The City of St. Thomas is committed to humanely stopping the cycle of unwanted litters through our Community Cat Program of Trap-Neuter-Return.

If you see a cat with part of its left ear removed or altered, this means the cat has already been spayed or neutered through our program.

Please do not bring a feral cat into the shelter. Unlike friendly homeless strays, feral cats do not trust people. They should be left alone to live in their environment, as they are not adoptable.

The benefits of feral cats

Once spayed or neutered, feral cats play a valuable role in your neighbourhood. They:

• reduce populations of unwanted pests such as moles, mice and rats, which can carry disease
• keep other cats out of the area, since they are territorial

You can help feral cats by providing food and water. We can help by ensuring they stop reproducing.

Request spay or neuter services

If you have a feral cat on your property or in your area that is not ear-tipped, we can spay or neuter them at no cost. We can also help you trap the cat.

Call Animal Services about the Community Cat Program at 519-631-7430.