Fort Worth Animal Care and Control requires licensed dogs and cats to carry a registered microchip. Owners must keep contact information current with the chip registry, and shelters scan every impounded animal to expedite reunification.
Fort Worth pairs registration and intact-animal rules with a microchip requirement under Chapter 6. At first registration, dogs and cats must have an ISO-compliant 15-digit microchip implanted by a veterinarian or Animal Care and Control clinic, and the chip must be enrolled in a national pet recovery database. Owners must update phone numbers and addresses within thirty days of changes; outdated information is the most common reason lost pets fail to return home. Animal Care and Control scans every stray, transfer, and surrender. A current chip with valid contact data dramatically increases reclaim rates and shortens shelter stays. Microchip-only identification does not replace a visible city tag.
Failing to microchip a registered pet, or failing to update registry data after moving, may trigger citations starting around fifty dollars. If an unchipped pet is impounded, owners pay for implantation and registry enrollment before the animal is released.
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth City Code Chapter 6 requires dogs and cats over six months old to be spayed or neutered unless the owner obtains an annual intact-animal permit fr...
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth City Code Chapter 6 requires cats over four months old to be registered with Animal Care and Control and vaccinated against rabies. Owners must ke...
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth requires dogs on leash in public. Off-leash in designated parks only. License and rabies vaccination required. TX HSC §822.013 covers dogs at large.
See how Fort Worth's microchipping rules stack up against other locations.
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