Oldham County, KY Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Oldham County Code Section 90.01 defines MICROCHIP as a passive transponder implanted in an animal that is a component of a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, and requires that the system be compatible with the scanner used by County Animal Control. The county does not impose a general, county-wide duty on owners to microchip a pet before it is out in public. Instead, the microchip requirement is tied to impoundment: Section 90.05(B), governing unrestrained and impounded animals, states that all impounded dogs not currently microchipped shall be microchipped upon intake at the Animal Shelter.

This applies whenever the Animal Control Officer or a police officer picks up a dog that is at large, injured, or otherwise brought into the shelter under Chapter 90's impoundment procedures. The same section requires proof of rabies vaccination and, for dogs, a current license before any animal is released back to its owner, and an unvaccinated animal must be vaccinated within two weeks of release. Because the microchip duty is triggered by impoundment rather than by ownership alone, a dog that never runs at large or is never picked up by Animal Control is not independently required under this chapter to carry a microchip, though owners commonly chip pets voluntarily to speed identification and recovery through the county's scanner system.