$100,000 INSURANCE POLICY REQUIRED FOR DANGEROUS AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS.
Among the most consequential proposed changes reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com: hobby breeders would be capped at one litter per year instead of two, and the age at which cats must be licensed and microchipped drops from six months to four. The rewrite also introduces a new “aggressive dog” classification — a step below “dangerous” — for dogs that have seriously injured or killed another animal off their owner’s property. Dangerous dog owners would, for the first time, be required to carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance, register the dog annually, and post warning signs at every entry point to their property.
Pet shops and pet dealers face some of the toughest new restrictions. The ordinance bars any pet shop or dealer from sourcing dogs or cats from breeders with recent USDA violations, cruelty convictions, or suspended licenses, and prohibits rescues from marketing animals as “rescued” or “saved” if they were actually purchased from a breeder, dealer, or pet auction. Rescues would also be barred from importing animals from outside Florida without a current veterinary inspection certificate. Tethering a dog to a stationary object when no one is present would become illegal, and dogs and cats could not be left outdoors when temperatures fall below 45 degrees or climb above 85 without cooling.
Other notable updates include a formal framework for trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs for community cats, mandatory microchipping for all cats and dogs four months and older, expanded disclosure requirements at the point of sale, and a new animal cruelty prevention education course that first-time offenders may attend in lieu of fines. The maximum penalty for an ordinance violation rises to $7,500, and the rewrite gives animal control officers new authority to impound dangerous and aggressive dogs pending investigation…