Muncie, IN Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Section 90.29 of Muncie's animal code ties microchipping to two specific moments: adoption and impoundment. Any dog adopted out of the city's animal care and services department leaves with a microchip implant already in place as a condition of the adoption, and any dog impounded by the department must likewise be implanted before it can be released back to its owner. The ordinance does not extend a mandatory microchip requirement to every dog owner in the city; it applies only to dogs that pass through the shelter's adoption or impound process.

The code separately makes it a violation to remove an implanted microchip from a dog, treating that act as a misdemeanor. A person found guilty of removing a chip, or of violating any other part of Section 90.29, faces a fine of up to $500.00 for each violation, the same ceiling the chapter's general violations section, Section 90.25, sets for other Chapter 90 offenses. The city adopted the microchip requirement through Ordinance No. 58-06 in December 2006 and later folded its enforcement into the broader 2013 update, Ordinance No.

51-12. Animal care and services administers the implant process directly, so an owner reclaiming an impounded dog can expect the chip to already be scheduled as part of release processing rather than something to arrange separately.