Floridians care deeply about their pets, which is why many Floridians care about how pets are treated under the law. The conversation is important — and it deserves a clear, principled framework that focuses on what protects pets, supports responsible ownership and ensures laws work as intended in the real world.
At the center of any successful approach must be a simple guiding principle: All pets deserve the highest quality of care. Whether a pet is in a shelter, a rescue, a foster home, a licensed breeder’s facility, or a licensed and regulated pet store, the expectation should be the same — humane treatment, appropriate medical care and meaningful oversight. Care is care — no matter what.
Florida already has a solid foundation to build upon. Our state relies on established standards, professional oversight and enforcement mechanisms — many administered through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and local authorities — to address cruelty and neglect.
The challenge, therefore, facing our lawmakers is not to replace that system with vague or duplicative structures, but to reinforce it with clarity, consistency and accountability.
Any approach that truly protects these animals must rest on a few essential pillars:
— First, proper care must remain the primary objective. Laws should clearly define expectations for health, safety and humane treatment and ensure those standards apply consistently across all settings, whether shelter, rescue, pet store or breeder. When requirements are uniform and grounded in best management practices, compliance is clearer, and enforcement is more effective.
— Second, oversight should be rooted in practical expertise. Veterinarians and trained pet care professionals are uniquely qualified to identify legitimate concerns related to neglect or abuse. Keeping professional and hands-on expertise at the center of oversight systems protects animals while preventing well-intended policies from being misused or overwhelmed by claims that lack medical or welfare grounding.
— Third, accountability must be actionable and enforced — not symbolic. Truly effective laws don’t just sound good; they provide clear standards, defined responsibilities and enforceable consequences. Transparency, inspections and compliance mechanisms are what separate meaningful protections from aspirational language that fails pets in practice.
— Fourth, parity matters. An animal’s welfare should not depend on whether it is temporarily housed, offered for adoption or part of a commercial transaction. Applying consistent standards across all environments reinforces fairness, protects pets equally and avoids shifting risks or unintended gaps in care.
A strong best-practices framework must also reflect the real lives of the families it serves. Florida households are not one-size-fits-all. Some rely on service or working dogs, while others face housing, insurance or allergy constraints, or need predictable temperaments in homes with children.
Thoughtful legislation recognizes this spectrum and protects responsible pet choice alongside adoption — ensuring that policies promote successful, lifelong placements rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. When laws account for both pet care standards and the practical realities of families, they are more likely to deliver the outcomes everyone wants: healthy pets, informed owners and forever families.
The welfare of our pets is not measured by rhetoric alone. It is measured by outcomes. If Florida keeps that focus front and center, it can continue to lead with both compassion and common sense.
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Sandy Moore is Florida’s 2024 Woman of the Year in Agriculture and the former President of Segrest Farms, one of the largest pet wholesalers in the world, where she worked across the company before becoming President in 2015. She now leads the Pet Advocacy Network, the advocacy voice of the responsible pet care community, representing pet professionals, suppliers and pet owners who work every day to support animal well-being, responsible pet ownership and access to healthy companion animals.