Florida

Updates about legal issues facing animals in the state

The Animal Legal Defense Fund works at the federal, state and local levels to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals.

Animal Protection Laws Ranking

Each year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund publishes its U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report. Each state is ranked based on 20 different categories of animal protection.

Florida
Overall Rank: #6 (Top Tier)

+Child protective investigators are required to report suspected animal cruelty and have civil immunity for doing so in good faith
+Animal control officers must complete training on animal cruelty investigations
+Has “Good Samaritan” law allowing civilians to rescue animals left unattended in cars
-Standards for minimum acceptable care for animals (e.g. necessary food, water, shelter) are not well-defined
-No felony provisions for negligent or reckless animal neglect or abandonment

Animal Protection Laws of Florida

The Animal Protection Laws of Florida compendium contains the general animal protection and related statutes for Florida with an effective date on or before September 1, 2022.

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