Elyria, OH Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Section 505.15 of the Elyria Codified Ordinances, titled Restrictions on Dog Ownership for Certain Convicted Felons, is the city's microchip rule for dog owners. Division (a) applies to a person convicted of, or pleading guilty to, a felony offense of violence committed on or after May 22, 2012, or a felony violation of Ohio R.C. Chapter 959, 2923 or 2925 committed on or after that date. For three years, counted from release from incarceration or, if there was no incarceration, from final release from other sanctions, that person cannot knowingly own, possess, have custody of or live with an unspayed or unneutered dog older than 12 weeks of age, or a dog determined to be dangerous.

Division (b) is the microchip duty. A person described in division (a) must microchip for permanent identification any dog owned by, possessed by, or in the custody of the person. The text is not limited to the dogs listed in division (a), so it reaches every dog the person has.

Division (c) carves out two exceptions: a person confined in a correctional institution of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and any dog the person owned, possessed, had custody of or lived with before May 22, 2012.

Microchips also appear in the dangerous dog rules in § 505.01(j). A person seeking a dangerous dog registration certificate from the County Auditor must be 18 years of age or older and provide a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) along with satisfactory evidence that the dog has been permanently identified by means of a microchip and the dog's microchip number. The certificate is renewed annually for the same fee.

The Elyria City Council enacted these rules for the City of Elyria in Lorain County, Ohio. Elyria's code prints no microchip requirement for ordinary pet dogs.