Bloomington, IN Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Potentially dangerous, dangerous or vicious classification
- Requirement
- Mandatory microchip implantation
- Also required
- Secured enclosure, 6-foot leash off property
- General pets
- No citywide microchip mandate
- Status-change notice
- 2 business days to report death, sale or move
Summary
In the City of Bloomington, an animal declared potentially dangerous, dangerous, or vicious by the animal control commission must be implanted with a microchip, on top of confinement, leash, and (for dangerous or vicious animals) muzzle and warning-sign requirements. Bloomington has no general microchipping mandate for ordinary pets.
(a)The animal, while on the owner/guardian's property, shall, at all times, be kept indoors, or in a secured enclosure from which the animal cannot escape, and into which children cannot trespass.(b)The animal must be implanted with a microchip.(c)The animal may only be off the owner/guardian's premises if it is restrained by a substantial leash, no more than six feet in length, and if it under the control of an adult. ... (d)The animal must be implanted with a microchip.
Full Breakdown
26 hearing process to be implanted with a microchip, in addition to being kept indoors or in a commission-approved secured enclosure and restrained by a leash no more than six feet long when off the property. 060(d) repeat the microchip mandate for animals escalated to the 'dangerous' and 'vicious' classifications, which also add mandatory sterilization within thirty days (absent a veterinarian's certification of infertility or health risk), muzzling in public, and warning signs posted at every entry point to the property. 020, triggered by a sworn complaint, bite report, or police report investigated by an animal control officer.
090. Outside this dangerous-animal framework, the Bloomington code does not require microchipping of dogs or cats generally; it is only a designation-triggered mandate at the vicious/dangerous end of the animal control commission's authority.
Violations & Fines
Bloomington's fine table doesn't list a standalone microchip-noncompliance fee, but failing to restrain a potentially dangerous or vicious animal, which includes maintaining it without the required microchip and confinement, carries a $100.00 civil penalty for a first offense under Bloomington Municipal Code § 7.56.030(b), doubling for a repeat offense within twelve months. The animal control commission can also revisit conditions attached to the animal's classification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bloomington require pets to be microchipped?
How does an animal get classified as dangerous in Bloomington?
What happens if my chipped dangerous dog moves or dies?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bloomington
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