Albuquerque, NM Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque (HEART Ordinance) Sec. 9-2-3-1 sets four separate duties. First, every City resident who owns a Companion Animal (a dog or cat) must have it implanted with a microchip and register that chip both with the microchipping company and with the Albuquerque Animal Care Center (AACC) once the animal passes three months old. Second, anyone who lives in Bernalillo, Valencia, Cibola, Sandoval, Torrance or Santa Fe County but is not a City resident must still obtain and register a Companion Pet Microchip if the animal stays in Albuquerque more than 15 consecutive days or an aggregate of 30 days in a year.

Third, any Companion Animal must carry a current rabies vaccination and be microchipped or otherwise permanently identified, and if that animal is later impounded by AACC, the county-resident owner must obtain a chip as a condition of getting it back. Fourth, whenever a Companion Animal leaves the owner's real property it must wear a collar or harness carrying a current anti-rabies vaccination tag, even if it is already microchipped; the tag can only come off temporarily for medical care, training, grooming, or while the animal is in a bona fide animal show.

Sec. 9-2-1-4 defines MICROCHIP as a passive transponder implanted by injection that is part of a radio-frequency identification system compatible with the scanner AACC uses, so a non-compatible chip does not satisfy the law. The article was adopted by Ord. 18-2006 and amended by Ord. 2019-032, and AACC is the Mayor's designee that administers registration and compliance citywide.