Salt Lake City, UT Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)
Key Facts
- Microchipping
- Optional, not required
- Tag exemption
- Only if chip registered with animal services
- Unregistered risk
- Owner assumes ID risk if impounded
- Vendor duty
- Must give ID info to animal services
Summary
Salt Lake City lets dog and cat owners microchip instead of using a collar tag, but only if the chip is registered with animal services.
D. Owners may have an identifying microchip implanted in their dogs or cats. If owners take such action, they shall be exempt from the requirement that such dogs or cats wear identifying tags at all times while off the premises, provided that the microchip information has been registered with the office of animal services. Owners shall assume the risk of nonidentification of all microchipped, unrestrained dogs or cats that are subsequently impounded by animal services officers.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-21: Code current through: Ord. 40-26, passed June 16, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Salt Lake City Code § 8.04.080(D) makes microchipping optional, not mandatory. An owner who implants an identifying microchip in a dog or cat is exempt from the requirement to keep an identifying tag on the animal's collar at all times while off the owner's property, but only once the microchip information is registered with the office of animal services. Owners who go this route assume the risk that an unrestrained, microchipped animal impounded by animal services won't be identified. Section 8.04.080(E) separately bars any microchip vendor from refusing to give animal services the owner's identification information for a chipped animal.
Violations & Fines
Skipping registration means no tag exemption: an unchipped or unregistered-chip animal off-leash without a tag violates § 8.04.080(A), enforceable like any license-tag violation under animal services rules. Vendors who withhold chip-owner ID from animal services violate § 8.04.080(E) directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Salt Lake City require pets to be microchipped?
Do I still need a license tag if my dog is chipped?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Salt Lake City
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Microchipping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Salt Lake County handle microchipping.