Waynesville, MO Animal Ordinances: Microchipping (2026)

Section 215.160 of the Waynesville Municipal Code governs strays picked up by the Animal Control Officer, and it ties an animal's release directly to microchipping. When a stray's owner is identifiable through licensing, collar tags, microchip records or other immediate means, the Animal Control Officer must notify that person within five business days, counting Saturday, by phone or mail. The known owner then has five business days, again counting Saturday, to redeem the animal. Critically, the Officer cannot complete that release until the animal has been fitted with a microchip for identification and the owner has paid all costs of apprehension, notification and impounding.

If the animal needed a City license or rabies vaccination, the Officer also withholds release until the owner produces the current license and proof of a valid rabies certificate. Miss the five-business-day window and the law treats that as disclaiming the animal, and the Animal Control Officer may then offer it for adoption or humanely destroy it. For animals whose owner cannot be identified at all, the City still holds them for at least one full Saturday and no fewer than five business days before the same adoption-or-euthanasia decision applies.

Section 215.175 sets the Micro-Chip Fee at a flat $20.00, on top of a $15.00 per-day Stray Hold Fee and $15.00 per-day In Pound Fee that keep accruing while the animal sits at the City pound. Anyone who redeems a dog before final disposition instead pays $15.00 for each 24-hour period under Section 215.170, plus a rabies vaccination if the dog was not already inoculated. Waynesville's Animal Control Officer, operating under the City Administrator per Chapter 116, handles the notification, microchipping and fee collection at the City animal shelter established under Chapter 215.