Warrick County, IN Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Warrick County Code has no blanket microchipping mandate for every dog or cat in unincorporated Warrick County. Instead, microchipping enters the code twice, both tied to Animal Control custody. First, § 131.27, IDENTIFICATION, lists a microchip as one acceptable way to satisfy the owner's duty to keep permanent identification on a pet, alongside an ID tag, an engraved collar plate, or a marker-written collar; an owner can choose any one of the four. Second, and more forcefully, § 131.32, REDEMPTION OF ANIMAL, ties microchipping to getting an impounded pet back.

Section 131.32(B)(4) requires an owner redeeming an impounded animal to pay any expenses associated with the implantation of a microchip in any animal, excluding pocket pets or livestock. Section 131.32(F) goes further, letting Warrick County Animal Control, in its sole and absolute discretion, require an animal to be implanted with a microchip at the expense of the person seeking the animal's release before it hands the animal back at all, with the fee determined by Warrick County Animal Control and subject to change at any time.

So a Warrick County pet owner never needs a microchip to avoid a citation while the animal stays home, but an owner whose dog or cat is impounded, for running at large, being a nuisance, or any other Chapter 131 violation, can be required to pay for one before Animal Control will release the animal.