Alachua County, FL Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)
Key Facts
- Who must microchip
- Dogs/cats 4+ months sold, transferred, adopted, or returned
- Exemption
- Ear-tipped community cats
- Cure period
- 30 days to register an existing chip
- Enforcing agency
- Alachua County Animal Resources
- Maximum penalty
- $500 fine and/or 60 days jail (§ 10.08)
Summary
Alachua County Code § 72.24.5 requires every dog and cat four months or older that is sold, transferred, exchanged, adopted, or returned to its owner from the county animal shelter to be implanted with a microchip registered to that owner. Ear-tipped community cats are exempt. Owners with an already-implanted but unregistered chip must register it with the manufacturer or face a citation from Animal Resources.
(a)All dogs and cats four months of age or older sold, transferred, exchanged, adopted, or returned to their owner from the county animal shelter shall be required to be implanted with a microchip that is registered to the owner of the animal. Ear-tipped community cats are exempted from this provision.(b)It shall be a violation of this chapter for owners of dogs and cats who have a microchip to fail to register an implanted microchip with the manufacturer of the microchip. The owner shall have 30 days to cure and register the microchip without penalty after notice by animal resources.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
5 sits in Chapter 72 (Animals) of the Alachua County Code, the same chapter that governs licensing, rabies vaccination, and impoundment for unincorporated Alachua County. The rule reaches every point a dog or cat changes hands: a private sale, a transfer between owners, an exchange, an adoption from a shelter or rescue, or the return of an animal to its owner from the county animal shelter. In each of those events the animal must carry a microchip registered to the person taking ownership. 25. 5(b) makes it a chapter violation to leave an implanted chip unregistered with the manufacturer, but it builds in a 30-day cure window after Animal Resources gives notice, so a first-time lapse is not immediately punished if the owner registers within that period.
30(b)(2), which makes microchipping (along with sterilization, vaccination, and licensing) a condition of every shelter adoption before the animal is released to a new owner. Enforcement runs through Alachua County Animal Resources, the county's animal control agency, which can issue citations for noncompliance and, for a pet returned unregistered after the cure period, escalate to the county's general code enforcement process.
Violations & Fines
Failing to implant a required microchip, or failing to register an existing chip after the 30-day cure notice from Animal Resources, is a violation of Chapter 72 and can be cited by an enforcement officer. Chapter violations are punishable under the county's general penalty, Alachua County Code § 10.08: a fine of up to $500.00, up to 60 days in the county jail, or both, in addition to any code-enforcement remedy under Chapter 24.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Alachua County require microchips for all pets?
What if my microchipped pet's chip was never registered?
Are community cats exempt from microchipping?
Who enforces the microchip rule in unincorporated Alachua County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alachua County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Alachua County to another location·View the Florida animal ordinances overview
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