As of October 10, 2026, who you call about a lost or found dog in Okaloosa County depends on where you are standing: inside Destin, Fort Walton Beach or Mary Esther it is still PAWS, inside Niceville it is the Niceville Police Department, north of Eglin Air Force Base it is Crestview's animal control, and in the unincorporated south end it is the county through the sheriff's non-emergency line - and because the county says it is not doing non-emergency stray pickups, the things that get a dog home fastest are a current microchip registration, a free photo-matching database, and checking the shelters in person.
For decades the answer in this county was one phone number. You called PAWS, the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society on Lovejoy Road in Fort Walton Beach, and they handled it.
That changed at midnight on September 22, 2026. According to Okaloosa County's own animal control page, the county's contract with PAWS ended and the county started providing animal control to unincorporated areas itself on September 23, split north and south with Eglin as the dividing line. Two and a half weeks later, Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin. Gates blew open, fences came down, and a lot of people found out about the new system at the worst possible time.
I am not affiliated with any of these agencies. Everything below comes from their own published pages, checked on October 10, 2026. The county says itself that the setup is still evolving, especially in the south end, so if a number does not work, the sheriff's non-emergency line is the fallback.
Who to call, by where you are
| Where you are | Who handles it | Number |
|---|---|---|
| City of Destin, City of Fort Walton Beach, City of Mary Esther | PAWS (still under city contracts into 2027) | (850) 243-1525 business hours |
| Those same cities, after hours, injured or aggressive animal or a bite | PAWS on-call officers, 4:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. | (850) 685-6003 |
| City of Niceville | Niceville Police Department | (850) 279-6436, ext. 1200 |
| North of Eglin, unincorporated, including Laurel Hill | City of Crestview Animal Control (Crestview Police Department) | (850) 682-2055 |
| South of Eglin, unincorporated | Okaloosa County Animal Control, through the Sheriff's Office non-emergency line | (850) 651-7400 |
| South, unincorporated, after hours, non-emergency | County voicemail, called back next shift | (850) 331-2195 |
| Anyone, any time, a threat to human life | Emergency | 911 |
A few details from the county page that matter:
- The county is running what it calls an Animal Control "Light" model. It responds to dangerous dog and bite cases, cruelty and neglect, quality-of-life ordinance violations, livestock at large and disease reporting. It says it will not handle non-emergency stray pickups or owner surrenders right now.
- Animals the county picks up go to different places depending on the side of the base. Crestview Animal Services shelters animals from the north end. Niceville Animal Clinic provides sheltering and veterinary services for the south end.
- The sheriff's non-emergency line answers with an AI assistant that asks where you are and routes the call to the right agency. If it cannot sort it out, it connects you to an operator.
- County staffing for the south end is listed as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an officer initially on duty Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If your town is not on that list, call (850) 651-7400 and let the routing system place you.
Next door: Walton and Santa Rosa
Dogs do not stop at county lines, and after a storm they travel.
Walton County animal services run through the Walton County Sheriff's Office. The shelter's number is (850) 892-8758 and its email is animalservices@waltonso.org. To report a lost dog, the sheriff's office asks you to email a photo and details to lostanimals@waltonso.org. It also posts a Found Dogs page on waltonso.org with a photo, ID number and pickup location for each dog its officers bring in, so if your dog went east, check that page and call with the ID number.
Santa Rosa County Animal Services is in Milton. WJHG reported in July 2025 that the county joined Petco Love Lost, a free national database that matches photos of lost and found pets. That matters for Navarre and Holley residents, and for anyone on the west end of Okaloosa whose dog may have crossed over.
If your dog is missing
Call the right agency above and the shelters, then go look in person. A photo description over the phone is a poor match for a scared, wet, muddy dog in a kennel. Visit PAWS, Crestview Animal Services and, if you are near the line, the Walton shelter. Ask how often their found lists update.
Fix your microchip registration today. A chip is only as good as the phone number attached to it. The American Animal Hospital Association's microchip FAQ cites a study of more than 7,700 shelter strays published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2009: microchipped dogs went home 52.2 percent of the time, against 21.9 percent for dogs without a chip. The same FAQ says most chipped animals that did not get home had wrong or missing owner information in the registry. If you moved, changed numbers, or never registered the chip after adoption, do it now. AAHA's Universal Pet Microchip Lookup at petmicrochiplookup.org will tell you which registry holds your dog's chip number.
Post it where photos get matched. Upload clear photos to Petco Love Lost, and post in the local lost-and-found groups for your area. Use a picture that shows the dog's whole body and any markings, not a cropped face.
Have proof you own the dog. Ready.gov's pet guidance recommends keeping a recent photo of you with your pet, because it documents ownership if you are separated. Find one on your phone now. Vaccine records and your vet's name help too.
Check close to home first. Look under decks, in sheds, in the brush line and in crawl spaces before you widen the search. Walk the neighborhood calmly with a leash and treats. Ask neighbors to check garages and outbuildings, since a dog can get shut in one while people are clearing debris.
If you found a dog
Keep yourself safe first. A frightened dog that does not know you can bite. If the dog is injured or acting aggressively, call the agency for that area from the table above, or the after-hours line, rather than handling it.
Get it scanned. Veterinary clinics and shelters keep microchip scanners, and a chip is the fastest route home. Then look the number up through AAHA's lookup tool if the clinic has not already.
Report it to the right agency and post it. Call the agency for where you found the dog, not where you live, because that is where the owner will start looking. Add it to Petco Love Lost and the local lost-and-found groups with the cross street where it turned up.
Know what the county is and is not doing. In the unincorporated parts of Okaloosa, the county says it is not picking up healthy strays right now. If you can safely hold the dog for a short time while the owner is found, that is often what gets it home fastest. The county page notes that shelters are very often at capacity and that local organizations that take strays have limited room.
Why this happens more after a storm, and how to keep it from happening twice
Storms open gates. Wind loosens fence panels and drops limbs across them, and the people who would normally notice are busy on the roof. Noise and pressure change push a nervous dog to run, which I went into in the thunderstorm anxiety post. And a dog that has been cooped up for days is carrying energy it is looking to spend, which is the mechanism behind a lot of fence-testing that I laid out in what under-exercised energy does to a dog.
So the boring prevention list matters more than usual this month:
- Walk the whole fence line before the dog goes out, every time, until repairs are done.
- Collar and tags on, with a phone number that works, even inside the house.
- Leash in the yard if any section of fence is down.
- Burn the dog's energy on purpose with short, safe walks and work around the house, so it is not standing at the gap looking for a job.
If you are not sure how much work your dog actually needs in a day to settle, the high-energy dog guide walks through it by breed type, and how much exercise does my dog need covers the general case.
FAQ
Who do I call about a stray dog in Fort Walton Beach or Destin? As of October 10, 2026, PAWS still handles animal control for the City of Fort Walton Beach, the City of Destin and the City of Mary Esther under city contracts. Call (850) 243-1525 during business hours, or (850) 685-6003 after hours for an injured or aggressive animal or a bite.
Does Okaloosa County Animal Control pick up stray dogs? Not non-emergency strays right now. The county says it is operating an Animal Control "Light" model that covers dangerous dogs and bites, cruelty and neglect, livestock at large, disease reporting and quality-of-life violations, but not non-emergency stray pickups or owner surrenders.
Who handles animal control in Niceville? The Niceville Police Department handles animal services inside the City of Niceville. The number the county lists is (850) 279-6436, ext. 1200.
Where do I look for a lost dog in Walton County? Check the Found Dogs page on the Walton County Sheriff's Office website, call the Walton County Animal Shelter at (850) 892-8758, and email a photo and details of your dog to lostanimals@waltonso.org.
How do I find out which registry my dog's microchip is in? Enter the chip number into the American Animal Hospital Association's Universal Pet Microchip Lookup at petmicrochiplookup.org. It lists the registries that hold that number, so you can update your contact information with the right one.
The short version
Find the right number for where the dog is, not where you live. Get the chip scanned and the registration current. Post clear photos to a matching database. And go to the shelters in person. The system is new, and the people working it are doing it after a hurricane. A little patience and a good photo go a long way.
Free tool: Dog Exercise Calculator - see how much daily work your dog actually needs, so a cooped-up dog is not the one testing a storm-damaged fence.
Kai's Run is not taking dogs yet. Join the launch list and you will hear first when conditioning opens in Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, and the rest of the Emerald Coast.