Port Orange, FL – A new bill filed in the Florida Legislature would make it a crime to leave pets trapped in vehicles and protect anyone who breaks in to free them from criminal or civil liability.
Republican Senator Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange filed Senate Bill 200 – otherwise known as the Protecting Animal Welfare and Safety Act – on August 31st.
Hukill says the bill was a reaction to recent news stories about people who lock their pets in hot cars, including one where 2 women were arrested on August 18th at Volusia Mall (click here).
“It makes it a crime if you leave an animal confined [and] unattended in a motor vehicle where the animal’s health and well-being [are] going to be compromised,” Hukill noted.
The women in the Volusia Mall incident were hit with a general animal cruelty charge since there’s no specific Florida law against leaving pets of any kind locked in vehicles, even on days of extreme heat or cold and even if there’s no food or water inside for the pet to access. Hukill’s bill aims to change that into a misdemeanor.
If it passes as written, the bill would also prevent the vehicle owner from legally going after anyone who breaks into the vehicle to rescue a pet in distress, provided that whoever rescues the pet takes it to a safe place and notifies the owner as to the pet’s whereabouts.
Farm animals transported in specially made vehicles or contraptions would be exempted from the law.
The bill mentions specifically that rescuers must either take the animal to a nearby animal shelter or leave it with a police officer, firefighter, animal control officer or someone else designated by the government to act on the pet’s behalf.
Hukill says the bill should protect pets while also giving pet owners who might be absent-minded a chance to get their animals back, hopefully having learned a lesson in the process.
Hukill felt the chances were good of getting the bill passed when the Legislature reconvenes next year.
Click here to view the full bill text.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.