Columbia, SC Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Columbia ties microchipping to its shelter and redemption process rather than to general pet ownership. Section 4-67(a) sets impound redemption fees: an animal that is already inoculated, licensed, microchipped and spayed or neutered can be redeemed for a flat $10.00, but 'for other pets the fee shall be $10.00 plus the appropriate license fee, the charge for rabies inoculation, a $20.00 microchipping fee, and the cost of spaying or neutering the animal.' The same subsection states that 'no animal will be released from the shelter without proof of inoculation and without an implanted microchip,' so a microchip becomes mandatory the moment a pet is impounded, even if it never had one before.

Section 4-66(e) defines a 'positively identifiable animal' as one wearing a current license or rabies tag, or bearing a traceable registration number, tattoo or microchip under S.C. Code Ann. § 47-3-510, and owners of positively identifiable animals get 14 days' notice by mail before an impounded pet is deemed abandoned. Section 4-67(d) also waives the impound and redemption fee entirely, on a first impoundment only, if the pet's microchip traces back to its current owner and the pet is picked up within 48 hours. Section 4-68(a) extends the same microchipping requirement to adopted animals, folding a 'reasonable fee for microchipping' into every adoption.