Salinas, CA Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Section 7-6 governs Salinas dog licensing and makes clear an implanted microchip does not excuse an owner from the separate physical tag requirement. Every dog owner must annually secure a license and tag from the city finance director or poundmaster once the dog reaches four months of age, paying the fee the city council sets by resolution, and the tag must stay affixed to the dog's collar or harness whenever the dog is off the owner's premises. Section 7-7 bars the city from issuing that license at all until the owner supplies written proof the dog was vaccinated under Section 7-5, and lost or destroyed tags can be replaced for a fee under Section 7-6.

010(c)(2), any dog the city has designated a 'potentially dangerous dog' must be spayed or neutered and micro-chipped within thirty days of that designation, alongside being licensed, vaccinated, and presented to Salinas animal control for photographing. Section 7-19(b) also treats a microchip like a license tag for impound-notice purposes: the seventy-two-hour redemption clock for an unlicensed, unchipped animal starts at impoundment, while an animal bearing either a tag or an implanted chip instead gets mailed notice first, with the clock starting once that notice is deemed complete.