Las Cruces, NM Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Sec. 7-11 requires anyone owning or having care, custody or control of a companion animal judged three months of age or older to have the animal implanted with an identification microchip carrying current owner or community cat caregiver information: name, address and phone number. That microchip registration record 'shall constitute proof of ownership' under the chapter, which matters directly in disputes over found or missing animals and in rabies exposure investigations handled by the animal control unit and the New Mexico Department of Health field office.

The owner must keep the microchip registration current with the registration company and has 30 days from any change of address or phone number to update it. When a microchipped animal changes hands, the previous owner is responsible for removing the animal from their own name and for re-registering the chip in the new owner's name within 30 days of the transfer; leaving an old registration in place can leave the wrong person on the hook when animal control traces the chip during a bite investigation, an impound or a found-animal claim.

The microchip requirement also underlies several other chapter 7 permits: an intact-animal permit under Sec. 7-31(11) cannot issue until the animal is microchipped, and a potentially dangerous or dangerous dog cannot be registered under Sec. 7-33 without a microchip on file with the animal control unit.