| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to animal control or cruelty ordinances; |
| 3 | amending s. 828.27, F.S.; requiring a county or |
| 4 | municipality enacting an ordinance relating to animal |
| 5 | control or cruelty to reduce the civil penalty for |
| 6 | violations of the ordinance under certain circumstances; |
| 7 | requiring the county or municipality to impose a surcharge |
| 8 | on the civil penalty; specifying use of the proceeds of |
| 9 | the surcharge; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Paragraphs (d) through (g) of subsection (2) of |
| 14 | section 828.27, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs |
| 15 | (e) through (h), respectively, paragraph (b) of subsection (4) |
| 16 | is amended, and a new paragraph (d) is added to subsection (2) |
| 17 | of that section, to read: |
| 18 | 828.27 Local animal control or cruelty ordinances; |
| 19 | penalty.-- |
| 20 | (2) The governing body of a county or municipality is |
| 21 | authorized to enact ordinances relating to animal control or |
| 22 | cruelty, which ordinances must provide: |
| 23 | (d) A reduced civil penalty not to exceed 25 percent of |
| 24 | the civil penalty normally imposed if the civil infraction |
| 25 | involves a dog or cat with intact sexual organs and the person |
| 26 | who has committed the civil infraction is the owner of the |
| 27 | animal and has the animal spayed or neutered. |
| 28 | (4) |
| 29 | (b) The governing body of a county or municipality |
| 30 | enacting an ordinance relating to animal control or cruelty |
| 31 | shall may impose and collect a surcharge of up to $5 upon each |
| 32 | civil penalty imposed for each violation of the an ordinance |
| 33 | relating to animal control or cruelty. At least 75 percent of |
| 34 | the proceeds from such surcharges shall be used for subsidizing |
| 35 | the costs of spaying or neutering dogs and cats whose owners |
| 36 | voluntarily submit their animals for sterilization and whose |
| 37 | owners are not charged more for the spaying or neutering than |
| 38 | the costs of sterilization less the subsidy paid from the |
| 39 | surcharges. The remaining proceeds shall be used to pay the |
| 40 | costs of training for animal control officers and other costs of |
| 41 | administering the ordinance. |
| 42 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |