The Dog the Warden Picked Up
ORC 955.16 — three days for an unregistered dog, fourteen for a registered one, and the notice in between
The difference between a licensed dog and an unlicensed one is usually described as a fee. In the impound chapter it is described as time, and the gap is eleven days, which for a dog that got out on a Friday is the whole question.
Who handles this in Ohio: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Three days, where the owner cannot be found from the registration list. Where the owner, keeper or harborer cannot be determined from the current year's registration list, the officer posts a notice in the pound or animal shelter describing the dog and the place where it was seized, advising the unknown owner that unless the dog is redeemed within three days it may thereafter be sold or destroyed according to law.
Fourteen days, where the dog is registered. Where the owner can be determined from the current year's registration list, the warden gives immediate notice by certified mail that the dog has been impounded and that, unless it is redeemed within fourteen days of the date of the notice, it may thereafter be sold or destroyed according to law. Where attempts to notify have failed, a registered dog is kept, housed and fed for fourteen days for the purpose of redemption.
| The dog | The notice | The hold |
|---|---|---|
| The dogOn the current year's registration list | The noticeImmediate, by certified mail to the owner | The holdFourteen days from the date of the notice |
| The dogNot on the list | The noticePosted in the pound or shelter, describing the dog | The holdThree days |
The license is what puts a dog on the list the warden reads. A dog that is licensed but whose tag is off is still on the list, and the notice goes to the address the registration carries, which is a reason the address on it matters more than the tag on the collar.
Redemption fees, the separate rules for dogs seized as dangerous or vicious, dogs surrendered by their owners, and what a pound may do after the period runs are each their own part of the chapter and are not on this page. The county dog warden's office is the place that holds the animal and the record, and a licensed Ohio attorney answers what a particular seizure and notice supported.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 955.16 — Disposing of impounded dogs, and the days they are held first
- ORC 955.12 — The dog warden, and notice to the owner of an impounded dog
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.