{"id":269188,"date":"2026-05-13T09:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/269188\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T09:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:24:11","slug":"desantis-signs-2-new-florida-animal-laws-heres-how-they-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/269188\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis signs 2 new Florida animal laws. Here\u2019s how they work"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2013 On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on another two bills, adding to the list of over 80 laws approved so far this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, these latest laws deal with two animal-related issues: animal welfare and pet sales.<\/p>\n

During a news conference on Tuesday in Palm Beach, DeSantis claimed that the new laws would help protect animals and hold abusers accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHB 559 gives law enforcement and local communities additional tools to crack down on animal abuse, including new felony penalties for horrific acts of animal cruelty,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cSB 1004 enhances legal protections for Floridians who buy and own pets and provides real accountability for businesses that violate the law. In Florida, anyone who mistreats or exploits animals\u2014or tries to defraud those who care about them\u2014will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to state officials, both new laws will do the following:<\/p>\n

HB 559<\/a> \u2014 Animal Welfare<\/p>\n

House Bill 559 establishes a new third-degree felony offense if an adult: <\/p>\n

causes or entices a minor to commit aggravated animal cruelty; fighting or baiting animals; or sexual activities involving animals<\/p>\n

commits in the presence of a minor aggravated animal cruelty; fighting or baiting animals; or sexual activities involving animals<\/p>\n

The law also requires a juvenile court to order a minor who commits animal cruelty to undergo a psychological evaluation and potentially receive certain treatments.<\/p>\n

The law takes effect on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

SB 1004<\/a> \u2014 Pet Sales<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 1004 implements several new consumer protections related to pet sales in Florida.<\/p>\n

The new provisions include the following:<\/p>\n

Requiring pet dealers to disclose financing terms before a sale is finalized<\/p>\n

Allowing consumers to terminate financing agreements without penalty if an animal is later found unfit for purchase due to illness or disease<\/p>\n

Requiring pet dealers to provide veterinary medical records documenting examinations, medications, and treatments provided to the animal<\/p>\n

Requiring written notice informing consumers of their rights under Florida law, including the ability to return or exchange a sick animal and seek reimbursement of veterinary costs<\/p>\n

Making violations enforceable under Florida\u2019s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act<\/p>\n

The law takes effect on July 1.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2013 On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on another two bills, adding to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1684,28,30,100,29,99,412,232],"class_list":["post-269188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-animals","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-legislature","tag-florida-news","tag-politics","tag-ron-desantis","tag-tallahassee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}