Floridians who commit animal cruelty won’t have anywhere to hide if a new bill from Sen. Tom Leek becomes law.
SB 494 would compel the Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website in a searchable format the names of people convicted of animal cruelty and those who pleaded guilty or no contest to the same.
If passed and signed, the law would be effective July 1, with implementation required by Jan. 1, 2026.
Florida Statute defines a person who commits animal cruelty in a couple of different ways.
Someone found guilty of animal cruelty as a first degree misdemeanor is one who “unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner.”
Meanwhile, a “person who intentionally commits an act to any animal, or a person who owns or has the custody or control of any animal and fails to act, which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering, or causes the same to be done, commits aggravated animal cruelty, a felony of the third degree.”
The statute as written specifically addresses equine abuse. A person who “intentionally trips, fells, ropes, or lassos the legs of a horse by any means for the purpose of entertainment or sport commits a felony of the third degree.”
Animal abuse continues to be in the crosshairs of the Florida Legislature this year after Floridians were shocked last year by the story of a dog that would come to be known as Trooper, who was tied to a pole as Hurricane Milton approached last year and rescued by a member of the state Highway Patrol.
SB 150, filed by Sen. Don Gaetz, holds that a “person who during a state of emergency … in an area included in the state of emergency” commits “animal cruelty … commits a felony of the third degree.”
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