Animal Control and Welfare
How to access animal control services, and what you can do if you encounter a wild animal in distress.
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Animal Control By-Law
As per Norfolk County’s Animal Control By-Law, By-Law will investigate the following:
- Dog bites
- Barking
- Dogs not on a leash
- Operating an unlicensed kennel
- Dogs without a dog tag
- Failing to clean excrement
- Improper tethering
- Having more than three dogs or five cats in a dwelling
- Keeping prohibited animals
Residents may submit complaints online using the By-Law Complaint Form or call 519-426-5870 or 226-NORFOLK during business hours, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Animal control services
Hillside Kennels Animal Control provides the following animal control services to Norfolk County residents:
- Pick up a dog or cat that has bitten or scratched a person. Hillside Kennels will pick up the animal and notify and bill the Health Unit directly. Domestic animals will be picked up and quarantined for 10 days. Wildlife will be euthanized.
- Pick up an injured, sick, or aggressive dog.
- Pick up an abandoned dog, including those left in a home due to the death of the owner.
- Pick up stray dogs.
The animal must be restricted to a place such as a garage, fenced-in area, or home, or tied up so they cannot leave the area. If the animal is wandering, Hillside will not attend unless it is sick, injured, or aggressive.
Hillside Kennels Animal Control will not:
- Pick up stray cats.
- Pick up wild animals (raccoons, snakes, ferrets, skunks, etc.) on private property.
Norfolk County does not provide services for sick or injured wild animals. Norfolk County residents may pay a fee to have Hillside pick up wild animals from their property:
- The typical fee for this service for properties within Norfolk County is $150 (cash).
- The wild animal must be kept or restricted to a place such as a garage, fenced-in area, or home so it cannot leave.
- If the wild animal is wandering, Hillside will not attend.
Read more about services to help wildlife.
Hillside will assist with lost pets and adoptions:
- Contact Hillside to file a lost pet report
- Hillside will post the pets they find on their Facebook page
Contact Hillside Kennels Animal Control
Call 519-469-3247 or 1-888-469-3247 or visit their social media page at Facebook.com/HillsideKennelsAnimalControl.
Animal welfare
Abuse and neglect of any animal is not tolerated in Ontario. If you think an animal is in distress or is being abused, contact PAWS (Provincial Animal Welfare Services). The PAWS answering service will take your complaint and assign an Inspector to contact you for more details.
PAWS provides services for animals:
- In a home
- On a farm
- Kept in a commercial business such as a kennel or pet store
- Any domestic pet
PAWS will assist these types of animals when they are:
- In distress
- Being neglected
- Injured, in pain, sick, or suffering
- Lacking proper care, including inadequate water, food, shelter, medical attention, care, space to move, etc.
PAWS will not:
- Assist with injured wild animals such as deer, raccoons, skunks, etc. Contact Hillside Kennels or another private contractor for assistance with an injured wild animal on your property. Hillside Kennels will charge the private property owner a fee for this service. Please do not call the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) unless the animal is in danger or distress. Residents may also contact a wildlife rehabilitator.
Contact PAWS
Call 1-833-9-ANIMAL (1-833-926-4625) or visit Animal welfare at ontario.ca.
Animals in danger or distress
Contact the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) at 911 (emergency) or 1-888-310-1122 (non-emergency) when any life is in immediate danger or distress, such as:
- An animal attack
- An animal being kept in a very hot or cold vehicle
The OPP will not dispatch a sick or injured animal on private property. If the animal is found on Norfolk County property, along a roadway, hit in an accident, etc., the OPP will attend and dispatch it.
Norfolk County does not provide services for sick or injured wild animals. Contact Hillside Kennels or another private contractor for assistance with an injured wild animal on your property. Hillside Kennels will charge the private property owner a fee for this service.
Please do not call the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) unless the animal is in danger or distress. Residents may also contact a wildlife rehabilitator.
